PMD : Alone Together
by XanaDurian
Summary: The world is not ending. There is no prophecy, no chosen one, and no calamity. And yet... a human-turned-Snivy wakes up in the woods with no memory except for his own name. Together with his Torchic partner and their mentor, they will take on outlaws and rescue missions in a bid to prove they are the best, and make plenty of nasty enemies along the way.
1. Prologue

There's a place where never was always and everything is nowhere. Over, under, sideways, and down are all the same in this place of pastel colours. Every particle and mote of substance is lost in a wash of psychedelia, and any mortal's ability to comprehend it is minute at best.

This place is the home of the creator, Arceus.

And it is here that our story starts.

* * *

"… h-hello? W- is anyone there?"

"Yes, hello my child, welcome."

"Where am I?"

"This is the place between life and death, where souls pass through unto either their final resting place, or their next life"

"N-next life? I'm dead?"

"No my child, you are simply- yes, you're dead."

"Oh…"

…

"Well, as is customary, I'm here to congratulate you on attaining positive karma, and reward you."

"Positive karma? I don't remember much. Did I do something important?"

"Nope! Infact, you were fairly mediocre. However, due to the fact that your friendship with one Jim Thomas had changed his life for the better, you were a net positive on the world, and thus, shall be rewarded."

"Oh… well, that's good."

"Indeed. You will be sent to the world that your heart most desires to experience, with a body that your heart desires."

"Am I meant to do anything in particular?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Well, my child, what would be the point of sending you off with a reward if your reward was hardship?"

"Oh. I guess that m-makes sense…"

"Are you ready?"

"W- um, I guess..."

"Well then, Arthur Wimbleton, welcome to the world of Pokemon!"

…

* * *

"Okay, now where did I put that popcorn… ?"


	2. Chapter 1 - It's Just Begun

Chapter 1 : It's Just Begun

"…"

"..ey, ar… ay?…"

"Hey! Wake up!"

I awaken with a start. My head feels groggy, and my body feels strange. On a sensation level, it's nothing out of the ordinary, but my proportions feel… off, somehow. As though my arms and legs are a lot shorter than they should be.

Looking at myself, I notice that I'm not quite what I expected to be. I'm definitely not a human, that's for sure. The word Snivy comes to mind, in fact.

I stretch, my observations finished, and from the ground look up to see whomever it is who's woken me up.

I find myself in the company of a Pokémon, much like myself. Their orange feathers and yellow poff on their head indicates to me a Torchic. They look concerned, big marble-like eyes looking down on me, as they step a little closer to me whilst I lay on a grassy floor.

Their beak is scrunched up in a little frown, and they say, "Uh… hey there. Are you okay?" after a short pause.

I note their high, slightly scratchy voice. They sound boyish to me, young. I can't help but compare them to… well, I suppose it reminds me of… of… huh. Welp. I can deal with that later on my own, I have to talk to this Pokemon in front of me.

I open my mouth, take a short breath, and reply with, "Yes. I think." I get up from the ground, standing up right on my stubby little snake legs.

"Oh good!" they say, letting loose tension and softening their frown a touch. They step back just a bit, before saying, "I was kinda worried! You don't see a lot of Pokemon just passed out in the forest, y'know? It's not exactly the safest place to get some shut eye." They pause for a second, and tilt their head curiously. "What are you doing out here, anyways?"

I pause. I'm not quite sure how to answer that. Quite frankly, I don't remember. And what I do remember doesn't exactly apply to current events, so I have a hard time puzzling together an answer. I end up not saying anything, as I can't think of anything that would satisfy the Torchic in front of me.

I look down as the moment drags on uncomfortably, lips in a tight line. I notice the grass underneath my feet as the Torchic shifts in place, allowing us to further stew in awkward silence.

I glance up and see Torchic open their beak to speak again. "Oookay then, uh… well, my name's Cole. You don't seem like you're from around here; we don't get a lot of easterners out here. What's your name?" they ask curiously, though with some discomfort as he attempts to move on from the awkward moment. His face has returned entirely to what I would imagine to be his neutral expression.

This question is much simpler for me, as I actually remember the answer, I think. I breathe in, feet shifting outward a little as I say, "… my name is Arthur." I can't help but pause for a moment, but I do get this sentence out of my mouth before I can cause another uncomfortable moment. Looking at Cole, he seems vaguely pleased that I responded to his question in a timely manner. I look down again at the grass.

"Okay Arthur, hi! So, h-"

Before he can complete his question, though, someone crashes into us. We go sprawling on the ground as this buggy torpedo knocks us on our backs.

I rub my skull, slightly dazed from the impromptu tackling endured.

Quickly getting to my feet again, I see that another Pokemon has joined us. Big red compound eyes, purple pigment, yes, that certainly is a Butterfree. It strikes me as odd that I can remember what Pokemon are, and their distinctive individual traits, but not anything from the past before I woke up a few minutes ago.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" the Butterfree exclaims. "I didn't mean to knock you two over," she flies frantically around us, seemingly in a panic.

"There was an earthquake! The ground collapsed and my baby fell into a Mystery dungeon! Oohh…" The mother flits around nervously, antenna hanging low around her head as she flies in an anxious circle. I look over to see Cole, standing up. He looks up at the Butterfree and opens his mouth to speak, but before he can, she speaks up again. 

"You two! Please, you have to help me! I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to my baby. I'll reward you, I promise, but please find my child!" Her pleading voice and desperate eyes are impossible to ignore. I say nothing, but I look at her fretting face and know that I simply can't turn her down.

I glance over at Cole, and it seems to me he feels similarly. With a sympathetic look on his face, he says, "Okay, we'll find your child lickety-split, don't you worry! We'll be back before you know it."

Cole grabs my hand with his feathers, and with gratitude at our backs, drags me down into the surrounding shrubbery, presumably to this so-called 'Mystery Dungeon'. I don''t know what a Mystery Dungeon is, exactly, but seeing as how both Cole and the mother behind us both seem familiar with it, I think it's safe to assume that it's common knowledge. I'll find out one way or the other what these things are, so I decide to not ask and save myself the embarrassment. 

Either way, deeper into the great unknown we go…

* * *

Mon, what a weird guy.

I've known this guy for, what, maybe a half-hour? Already, I can tell he's an odd one. He's just so… quiet, I guess. I keep asking this dude questions, and I just keep getting brick-walled.

"So where are you from?" Silence.

"What was it like coming here?" Silence.

"Do uh, do they have good food where you're from?" Silence.

It's so weird! I know he can talk, I've heard him, but whenever you try to ask this dude a question more complicated than what color the grass is, he goes mute. I haven't really met someone quite this shy before!

I'm leading this guy, Arthur, to the mystery dungeon. I've been holding his hand so that he doesn't get lost, because he's really not watching the path. I've looked back at him a few times to ask some simple questions, but it always seems like his gaze is somewhere else. He's always looking at the grassy floor, or the canopy of trees above us, or the bushes all around us.

After awhile, I notice he stops. I turn around and see him pointing to our left. "… What's- what is that?" he asks.

I look to where he's pointing, and at first, I don't see anything strange. As I look more closely, though, I can kinda see some weirdness. The leaves and grass are a slightly different shade of green, and the plants all seem a bit less… there? Sorta like they're less… depth-y? They seem more flat. The light just isn't hitting them quite right. I raise an eyebrow. The spot Arthur pointed out may actually have something special about it after-all! Looks like the entrance to our mystery dungeon. What a catch!

"Woah, yeah. That's a mystery dungeon entrance. How'd you spot it?" I ask, surprised. That really is impressive. Dungeon entrances are pretty subtle 'cause they blend in so well, but this guy caught it like that! He must have a pretty keen eye to just pick one out of the blue like that. Now, if only he'd answer one of my questions, that'd be gre-

"Well, uh… I was just, well, looking around. Paying attention. It just looked weird to me, so, just, I uh, I pointed it out. To you," Arthur said, kinda fidgeting in place. Needless to say, I was shocked. He finally gave me a response! Progress! Though, that still seems odd. This guy is so strange, mon. I give him a smile and say, "It takes a pretty keen eye to pick a mystery dungeon outta nowhere, dude. You must be pretty sharp, huh?"

Arthur just blushes and looks at the ground. I guess he's still pretty shy, but at least he spoke to me this time. I really do mean the compliment, too. It's kinda hard for any random Pokemon to pick a mystery dungeon out of its surroundings. Heh, maybe if they 'paid-attention' like this guy, it wouldn't be such a problem. Either way, we've found our destination. Now, let's see if Arthur is still willing to talk.

"So, Arthur," I start, walking closer to him. As sunlight filters through the leaves above us, I ask "Have you ever been inside a mystery dungeon?" and he freezes up immediately. While he was pretty stiff before, now he seems like a metal pole. I see his mouth go into this really tight line as he fixes his gaze at what I think is my feet. I glance down at my feet, but there's nothing there but grass, so I look up again and see him blushing. Is Arthur… embarrassed?

I try to soften myself a little bit, seem a bit more friendly. "Arthur, dude," I say, before tilting my head with a small smile, "You don't have to be embarrassed! Plenty of 'mon don't go into these things." I notice him loosening up a bit at that. Score one for me! His eyes kinda dart from side to side.

He moves a bit closer, and I start talking again, "I just need to know so I can explain whatever it is you don't know! A lot of Pokemon know the basic maze stuff, not a lot of 'mon know the subtleties, though, like not to eat food from a dungeon when you get out."

Arthur quirks an eyebrow while looking at the mystery dungeon entrance. "Why should you not eat food from inside a dungeon? What- does something happen?" he asks curiously. I smile and nod at him, and he looks over at me.

"Well, yeah! You'll get sick. It's like eating old food. Time doesn't pass in a dungeon the way it does out here," I explain, gesturing to all the foliage around us as I get closer to the entrance. "So while the food is fine to eat in there, when you get out, however long it's been in there catches up to it. It might still look good on the outside, but once you bite into it, you'll find out just how long it's been on the floor."

I shudder, remembering the time I tried to eat a beautiful looking Big Apple, only to get a mouthful of mold.

"Trust me, Arthur, don't try it." He has his little leafy hand on his chin, thinking. I guess this might be weird for someone who doesn't do a whole lot of dungeonering. Seems strange that he'd be all the way out here if he didn't have any experience, though. It's a long way from the east coast to get here without going through a single mystery dungeon. He did spot the entrance to this one, though, maybe he avoided them all?

After a moment with no response, I turn back to Arthur. "Okay dude, let's get going! Butterfree's kid isn't gonna rescue itself!" I proclaim. He nods at me with this kinda determined look on his face, and we head into the dungeon.

Ah well, maybe I'm just being dumb. He's probably like any other east coast 'mon…


	3. Chapter 2 - Are You Ready?

Chapter 2 : Are You Ready?

I wasn't sure what exactly I was expecting when we entered the Mystery Dungeon. I certainly can say that I'm not going to complain about how mundane our entry was, but I can say that I was expecting something a bit more impactful.

If it weren't for the monotonous nature of our surroundings, and the exceedingly corridor-like pathways, I would not have guessed that we were anywhere extraordinary at all. However, looking closer, the leaves on the trees, the patterns on the bark, even the angles at which branches stick out from shrubs, is all too… perfect. Not a flaw in any stone, or knot in any tree. It was, in a way, off-putting

Of course, as stated before, it is the layout, more than anything else, that gives this place away. As we traverse, we enter these rooms and corridors. They give the impression of clearings, and yet, when you brush against the 'walls', so to speak, you'll find yourself bumping against a solid… force, of some sort. Not unlike concrete, perfectly smooth concrete.

The texture is as odd to me as it is viscerally satisfying to touch something so flawlessly flat. There is, however, a certain kind of cognitive dissonance involved when you see this foliage in front of you, but you're blocked off by something entirely invisible. It's like I'm walking inside of a glass enclosure.

Cole and I walk side by side as we come across something of interest in our next room. In the corner, far to the right, is what looks like a gleaming object. Squinting my eyes a bit, it seems like a small pile of… coins? Out in the middle of a forest? Why?

Cole turns to move on to the next corridor, but I instantly make a bee-line for the coins. I know he notices, and I hear him turn around. "Hey, what's u- oh! Poké! I didn't even notice," he says. I don't have anything meaningful to say to that, so I stay quiet. 

As I approach what I assume to be money, I can make out more detailed features. The gold coins on the ground are dominated in their surface area by a big bold P on the front. They seem to be ridged, on the sides, and as I stand over them, I notice two bits of text that stick out. For one, denominations, as one coin had a big '10' on it, and the other six only had a '1'. The other bit of text that sticks out to me is 'West Coast - Best Coast'.

Are we on the West Coast? I suppose so, though I haven't exactly seen a coast near by. Then again, I've only really been in a forest thus far...

"How much is it?" I hear from behind.

At this point, I must conclude that, whatever the lineage of this body, there must be some level of Buneary in me, because at that moment I jumped higher than I would've thought possible for a Pokemon with such short little legs. I twist around and face the Torchic behind me. He seems surprised, and honestly, I think I can relate- I'm surprised I didn't have a heart attack.

"Woah, hey, sorry! I didn't mean to startle you," Cole says, as I hold a leafy green hand to my chest. I allow a moment for myself to calm down.

Staring at the ground, I breathe slowly, in and out. I feel myself relax as I hear Cole scruff one of their talons on the ground. I guess this is what I get for paying attention to some coins and not my surroundings. My heart goes back to normal after another moment, and I finally reply, "16," having now calmed down.

"What?" he says with a tilt of his head. I breathe out my nostrils and elaborate the best that I can.

"Poké. There were 16 Poké on the ground." I turn around again and pick them up with my hands, the gold metal jingling together. I hear an "Oh!" behind me as I count them out and hand them to my Torchic companion.

"Here. You can take them. If you want to," I tell him as they land in his yellow feathers.

Cole looks surprised. "Huh? Uh, alright. You sure you don't want some too, dude?" he says, stretching out his feather to hand me some coins back. "This isn't a lot of money, but we're in this together, so you should have some too, don't ya think?"

I suppose I wasn't really thinking about it. Perhaps I should take some money with me as well. After all, money means a society, and a society means I need money for things. I'm not sure what things specifically, but I do know I need… things.

"Well… okay. Yes," I say, before taking the coins.

It is at this point that I must conclude that the universe has a sense of humour, or at least derives some mild amusement from messing with us.

As soon as Cole turns around to lead us to the next part of the dungeon, "Alrighty, we've been on this floor for a while, let's get go-" he gets tackled by yet another bug. I'd be amused myself if said bug weren't trying to attack us. 

Let's see, red, yellow horn, big eyes, yes, this certainly is a Wurmple.

* * *

Ow.

Jeez, mon, what's with bug's and tackling me today? Did I step in honey or something? C'mon, I know I'm pretty hot, but when other pokemon talk about wanting to smash, I don't think they mean this, that's all I'm saying.

Wurmple gets off to ready its next attack.

I get up too and turn to face it. This guy doesn't look too tough. At least, he's definitely not as tough as he's trying to be. For all his growling, I can't help but find it cute. Aw, this guy thinks he can win!

I ready my stance. Both talons planted firmly on the ground, I give this guy my best glare, puff my chest out a bit, and get ready to fight.

"Alright mon, I know you wanna go, but we both now how this is going to end, so j-"

I'd keep going, but that little bastard just spews his strings in my mouth, eughh! Okay, no more playing around. I refuse to be made a fool of by bug boi over here.

I charge straight for him, "HRRRRMMMM"ing through my string gag as I do a little jump and kick my talons out to get him with a good scratch. I get him across the cheek, but I guess I left myself open, because the next thing I know, I'm tackled.

Again.

Argh!

The Wurmple giggles at me and sticks his tongue out. I peck at him from beneath his segmented body as well as I can. It doesn't seem to hurt him much, what with this big wad of sticky stuff in my mouth, but I'm pretty sure he got the message.

He hops off from my belly, and as I start getting up, this guy blows a damn razzberry at me and sticks my talons together with his string shot. Just…

I'm so very mad. I feel something build in my throat as I get styled on by this damn little bug bastard.

I start trying to go after him, but I immediately fall. This is so lame. Arcues, mon, if only Snizzy were here… wait, hold on, I have a partner, why aren't they helping?

I look over at where Arthur is, and that damn Wurmple follows my gaze. We both see Arthur freeze, eyes wide as he glances back and forth between the two of us. "Um… hi- hello?" they say.

Just like he did me, the first thing Wurmple does is go to tackle Arthur to the ground.

I can see him panic, before immediately diving forward and ducking as the Wurmple goes sailing over his head. The Wurmple skids to a halt and glares at Arthur as he turns around to face the deranged bug fighting him. He gives a nervous laugh, before turning to run.

The Wurmple chases after him. While they play Meowth and Rattata, I slowly allow a pressure to build in my throat again.

The Wurmple goes for a tackle, and Arthur jumps out of the way. A string shot flies as he lands, but it just covers his tail.

This Snivy is pretty agile, honestly, I do have to hand it to him. He can't keep this up forever, though, he's already panting, and I might not be able to burn off this string in time. Why hasn't he tried attacking yet?

I see Arthur relax a bit. "Okay. I get it now," I hear him say quietly.

What's he up to?

I can see the Wurmple gearing up for another tackle, and this Snivy just stands there. The worm charges forward, leaps for a tackle, and then something happens that I didn't quite expect.

Arthur slides forward on his knees, slams his tail into the ground, and uses the momentum to headbutt the Wurmple's belly from underneath. The Wurmple's eyes go wide as it gets sent tumbling through the air, landing on its face.

Alright, that was kinda clever, I guess. I wouldn't have thought to do that, at least. His stamina might be lacking, but Arthur does have a good head on his shoulders.

He smirks, looking a little proud of himself after landing back on the ground on his feet. He starts walking towards the Wurmple, but his eyes go wide as he's tugged back into place.

"Ach, what?" he says before glancing back to find his sticky tail stuck to the ground. He looks befuddled.

"I… well, I wasn't anticipating this," he says lamely.

Wurmple growls at him, and he turns his attention back to the worm assaulting us.

At first, Arthur looks scared again as the Wurmple slowly approaches. His eyes dart all around him, and I can almost see the gears in his head turning as he tries to think his way out of this.

The heat and pressure in my throat is nearly about ready to ember the string shot in my mouth, but I just need a tiny bit more time.

Suddenly, Arthur's eyes snap back to the approaching Wurmple, and he loosens up again.

The Wurmple goes for yet another tackle, and Arthur just stands there. I mean, I guess he can't really do much else, but I'm not sure what he plans to do if he can't really move. As the Wurmple jumps for his attack though, Arthur raises his left hand.

Wait a minute… no way, there's no way he's gonna do what I think he's going to do. There's no way that this guy, who's spent the past forty-five minutes all shy, has the balls to do what I think he's about to do. Can Snivy even learn that move? No, no, he has to be going for something else, I-

Well damn. Arthur used pay day.

Kinda.

When the Wurmple is about to collide with him, Arthur doesn't toss a hail of coins at them like a normal pay day, no, instead, he throws his poké directly. Into. The Wurmple's. Eyes.

The little thing is barely aware of what's happening as it gets beaned in the optics.

I finally am able to ember through my gag when this happens, so I do. My ember isn't very strong, but it works, and when I burn away the string shot, I say the only thing that should be said. A well deserved "Damn, dude!" comes flying straight out of my beak.

The Wurmple is on the floor, writhing and clutching its eyes as it wallows in 1 Poké coins. I take a certain amount of satisfaction as it whines.

Arthur's body sags with relief, and his eyes widen in surprise. I'd be pretty surprised too if I pulled that off.

"That was… damn, mon, that wasn't too bad. Pretty crafty, dude," I say. I mean, really, who does that? I don't even think he used a real move that whole time until the very end, and that was a pretty weird pay day. Speaking of… 

"Where did you learn how to do pay day, dude? Snivys can learn that?"

* * *

I… how do I answer that? What moves do Snivy learn? I'm fairly certain that they learn basic grass type moves, but anything beyond that is certainly beyond me. I am definitely sure that Snivys cannot learn Pay Day, so even if I were really a Snivy, I wouldn't be able to answer him adequately.

I pay attention to the short grass beneath my feet, how it feels, in order to calm myself.

I cannot lie to Cole, what would I even say? I appreciate the compliments, my warm face is proof enough of that, but I don't know how to explain myself, so I don't say anything.

Eventually, after an uncomfortable silence, the Wurmple recovers well enough to stand again. It looks at me, then at Cole, whines, and runs off into the woods!

What?! Bu- ! I- ! Wha- !? Oh never mind, it's already disappeared into the false forest. I really can't wrap my head around this. The area around the forest is solid! How can a Wurmple just waltz on through like that solid force isn't even there? Is it part of the Mystery Dungeon somehow? Why?

Shaking my head from all these questions, I turn back to look at Cole. His cheeks are puffed up, and his face looks almost… determined maybe? I'm not sure, but eventually, he spews some Embers from his beak and burns away the string keeping his talons together.

"Alright, finally, I can move again!" he exclaims excitedly, jumping up from his spot on the grass.

"Alright Arthur, now we just need to get you unstuck too! Here, just hold still, and I'll burn away the…"

I notice him look me up and down, and I stare at the ground, embarrassed.

"Oh," he says, "Right. You're a grass type."

"Welp." He walks over to where I'm stuck, the grass bending delicately beneath his talons. I try to lock my eyes onto a little yellowish blade of grass in front of me. "We're probably gonna be awhile, dude, so get comfy."

Suddenly, I realize exactly what it is he's referring to. I am a Snivy. My tail is made of leaves. Leaves are flammable. I am flammable. He is a fire type. He breathes fire. Houston, whoever you are, we officially have a problem.

Cole sits down next to me, and says "We're gonna have to wait for it to dry so we can break it off, mon, sorry."

"How much- how long does it take?" I ask.

"About 30 minutes," he replies.

…

"Well, I spy with my fiery eye something… green."

Just… just end me now.


	4. Chapter 3 - Dazed & Confused

Chapter 3 - Dazed Confused

Never allow string shot to come in contact with your body. It is sticky, it is gross, and if you're a grass type that lacks natural blades of some sort, it is impossible to get off before it dries. Not to mention, when it dries up it leaves behind this flaky, off-white crust, and just… ugghh disgusting.

The texture of it while I pick it off of my tail makes me gag. Just, feeling these little flakes of string as they crumble in my hands makes shudders go up my spine. And it takes so long to get off too! I hate the way this feels, and I think I may now hate Wurmples as a result.

I need to keep my eyes moving and alert. I do not want to get into another altercation with a bug type if I can help it. Every tree, leaf, and branch is being scrutanized by me - very meticulously, mind you! - as Cole and I continue our treck to find Butterfree's child.

Am I being paranoid? Perhaps, but at the very least, I'd rather we don't end up getting blindsided like we did with the last one. I do not want to get string shotted- string shotted? String shot? I don't want to have to peel this stuff off again.

Oh god, I need to get mind off of this. No, no, here, how about I try… talking? It's marginally less painful than dried string shot, if nothing else.

"So, uh…" I clear my throat, "Cole." The words leave my mouth a little shakey, but I'll take it. Cole perks up a bit upon being addressed and he turns his gaze to me. I immediately look off to the side in response. "Yeah?" they reply.

Wait. Damn it, I don't know what to say! Uh, let's see, um… oh, I know! A question! I can ask him a question, and he'll answer, and then a conversation will ensue wherein I'll finish cleaning my tail before its end. Okay, that's a good plan, that will most likely work.

"Um, so… Mystery Dungeons. Can you tell me more? About them," okay, awkward, but we can do this, "I uh, I nev- I don't really go into them. Much. At all."

Nailed it.

"Oh!" Cole exclaims. I hear some grass beneath us crunch as we end up in a new room. Looking around, the only thing of note here is how the grass is distinctively no longer alive.

Cole pauses as we enter the room, and I do the same. "Yeah, sure dude, what do you want to know?" he asks, while peering around the room for the next corridor.

There's so much that I don't know about these things. These places, these Mystery Dungeons, really are some kind of anomaly aren't they?

"What are Mystery Dungeons?" I ask as we begin down the path to our right, where the grass begins to clear out to just dirt. I continue, "As in, h- well, why are they here? Did something happen?"

As we walk, I see another room coming up, with some sort of… staircase? An upwards staircase? That leads… nowhere? "Well, no one's really sure where Mystery Dungeons come from. They've just… always been here, I guess."

Why and how. Why and how is there a big stone staircase to nowhere in the middle of a forest. "I'm not into the theory, I just know how to get through a dungeon. You'd have to ask my pal Snizzy about that kinda abstract stuff."

We enter the next room, more large and rectangular this time. I point my stubby little snake finger at the impossible stair case ahead of us.

"Alright. Secondary question, why- what's with that staircase?" I ask, as I am, at this point, genuinely baffled. The invisible walls? I can deal with that. The random assailants? Annoying, but if we keep our wits about us, that's all they are. Hell, I'm willing to accept our disturbingly perfect surroundings! But this?

This?!

This is simply too much. I refuse to accept, I absolutely refuse to accept this without an adequate explanation. I can only hope that whatever comes out of Cole's beak is satisfactory.

I look over at him as he opens his beak to answer. I hear his feathers shift as he tilts his head and raises an… well, we don't have eyebrows, but the mannerism is fairly unmistakable. A crook of the forehead, maybe?

"Huh? What do you mean?"

No, no no no no, don't you start. Don't you even try to tell me that this is normal!

"It's just the stairs to the next floor, dude. There's not really anything weird about it."

Oh my god, he did it. He actually told me that this is normal. I… I, please, what. How. Why. Stop. No. I refuse, I simply refuse, return to sender, no deposit, no return. Just-! Wait. Hold on. Stairs to the next… floor. As in, upwards. Wha-

I look up. Let's see, clouds, blue sky, a weirdly large sun- ow, okay, looking away from that. As I blink the sunspots from my eyes, I come to the most logical conclusion I can: there is no upper floor. There cannot be an upper floor. Unless the staircase leads into the clouds, this is simply impossible! I open my mouth again.

"But we're in a forest. How can- why is there even a staircase here?" I ask in utter confusion.

I see Cole look at me, confused as well. "How else are we supposed to get to the next floor, dude? It's called a Mystery Dungeon for a reason, y'know," he tells me, before turning to the staircase in question and walking towards it.

My left eyelid twitches as I watch him move away from me. I follow him, staring at his talon-prints in the ground while I try to calm myself. I may have been able to gloss over this earlier, but with this damn string on my damn tail added on, I do not… wait.

I rub my hands all along my tail, and suddenly, everything is fine. I do not even have to try to calm myself calm. My tail is clean!

As I step up the staircase behind Cole, I feel alright. Not great, this all still bothers me, however, with the pesky irritent known as string shot gone, I feel fine.

Then I reach the final step of the stairs. I see trees, bushes, even a few flowers around me as we enter into a new room. My feet are planted firmly on the ground, with no textural indication of stone steps beneath my feet. The sky is blue, clear with the exception of a few wispy clouds, and I presume a sun, though I don't look this time. We are on another floor.

For some reason, the sound of breaking glass comes to mind.

Cole is already at the entrance to the next corridor we need to go down, and I follow him. I ignore the way my left eye twitches as we continue. I also ignore my clenched fists as my brain cells slowly whither away. I keep my mind on my surroundings as I follow Cole down the path, trying to focus on the smell of the forest, or the sounds of our steps.

We end up in another elongated room, and suddenly Cole stops. I bump into him from behind, but I step back and to the side soon after. Cole seems tense, and when I glance up at his face for a second, he looks frustrated. I hear him shift, and he says, "Hey Arthur, we got company!"

I look up to see yet another Wurmple coming our way.

I can't tell you what I see now, aside from red.

Before I'm even fully aware of what I'm doing, I find myself charging forward at the Wurmple as it squeeks in surprise. I take a leap and tackle it to the ground. I land on top of its squishy body as it squirms beneath me. I put my hands on his head and attempt to pull him up

He writhes his body as I hold him by the head, legs failing outwards. I have a hard time keeping a hold on him, and I realize fairly quickly that I have a very short time limit to take advantage of my position. Looking out and zero-ing in on Cole, I see that he's some type of shocked, but moving towards us.

"Attack him! Use your fl- your fire if you can!" I shout at Cole, which makes him spring into action after only a moments pause. He starts with a run, before jumping and delivering twin slashes across the Wurmples body with his talons.

I am momentarily confused by his choice to use his talons, but I can't complain about the efficacy of his attack.

The Wurmple shoots a burst of string shot into the air in desperation, and my eyes widen. I immediately let go and dive away, and the sound of flapping and talon patter tells me that Cole acted similarly. I land on my stomach with a 'pumf' and slowly get up, shaking my head.

And then suddenly, in a moment of clarity, my anger and adrenaline is replaced with a cold water bucket realization that I am, infact, in a battle. Very suddenly my nerves return, and I freeze up. I stare at the Wurmple, up right and hurt, but still standing and looking to fight. Cole is looking fierce, with one of his talons raised as his wings act to balance him.

They stare eachother down for a brief moment, before everything is suddenly in motion.

The Wurmple leaps to tackle Cole down. I hear Cole say, "Not this time!" before he hops and strikes downwards with great speed. His talons catch the Wurmple on his face and bring him down to the ground with a satisfying impact. Cole lets go of the Wurmple, stands over him, and Pecks the back of his head.

The Wurmple has fainted.

* * *

Y'know, I gotta admit.

That was pretty satisfying.

After having pecked that little bastard's head, I gotta say, I feel pretty slick. It feels like payback, and payback feels good.

I stick my tongue out at the little bug boi, before I leave the Wurmple on the floor and walk over to Arthur. It seems like he's back to being all weird again, but he loosens up as I approach him. I give him a satisfied little smirk. He approaches me as well, and we meet somewhere in the middle of the room.

"Y'know, I gotta say, you don't seem it, but you're not too shabby in battle," I say to the Snivy. I gotta give credit where its due. He blushes and stares at his favourite thing, the ground, before I continue "You fight pretty weird for a grass type, but… it works."

I do have to say, seeing how this guy battles versus seeing how he acts normally is almost surreal. It's like night and day. He seems so nervey and tense most of the time, but when it's time to fight, he's kinda clever. He's definitely not anywhere near as fit as he should be, he got winded after only a few dodges earlier, but he's better than you'd expect from just looking at him.

Arthur glances up at me, before looking down again and clasping his hands behind him. "I… well, okay. I don't know what came over me, really. I jus- I was just so frustrated…" he says, eyes moving across the floor very quickly.

"Well, whatever happened, it was pretty good, mon, that's all I'm saying." I guess this guy really isn't too keen on compliments, huh? I dunno, if I caught my opponent off guard like that, I'd feel pretty proud of myself. I guess maybe he's like Snizzy - no nonsense. Heh, I should introduce them…

Arthur doesn't respond, as per usual, and I turn my attention to the next corridor. "Okay, let's go. This forest's dungeon isn't too big, I think. Pretty sure we only got like, one more floor, so let's find that next staircase, grab the kid, and get outta here, alright dude?" I say, looking back as Arthur walks up behind me.

I seem him nod, and together, we walk.

Y'know, thinking about it, I wonder where this guy learned to fight, anyways. His fighting style is pretty weird for someone who's got training. Does he even have training? Looking back, he doesn't seem to have much of a technique. It's alot more… spur of the moment than I would expect from someone who acts like he does.

"Hey Arthur," I start.

I hear a quiet little "hm?" before I continue. "Where did you learn how to fight, dude? Who taught you?" I ask him with interest.

We step into another room, this one a bit smaller than the last. There are two paths to go down this time, but I can see pretty clearly that the path across from us ends in a dead end right away, so I turn my attention to the path to our right instead. I hear Arthur walk over somewhere else. Turning to look, I see he's found an oran berry and is inspecting it.

He holds onto it as he turns back to me and scurries over. "Sorry," he says, "Um, anyways…" His lips are pressed in a tight line. I nod to show I'm listening before turning to the corridor and starting down it. "I don't- I wasn't taught how to fight. I, uh, I don't know how. Really. Just, well, I guess I, um…"

That sentence fragment just kinda hangs in the air as he trails off.

All the same, that's good to know. So he probably doesn't know many moves, or at least, doesn't know how to use them as well as he could. Thinking back, the first time we got into a battle, he just froze up until he was in immediate danger, and the second time, I noticed him freeze up again after his big opening play. So he's got potential, but no training, really. Just going off instinct…

Pretty weird instinct for a Snivy, but if it works, it works. I really do have to introduce this guy to Snizzy. Imagine if Arthur got some training in, and we got him on our team? Heh, now that'd be pretty killer, I think. If nothing else, it'd be nice having someone holding the fort down while me and Snizzy are out on a mission or whatever.

I turn to look back at Arthur as we step into yet another room. "So dude," I say, before I notice the staircase to the next floor in the far right corner of the room. "I know you like to Cloyster up when I ask questions, but try to anwer this one, alright? It's kinda important," I tell him with a serious look. Arthur raises his eyebrow and nods at this.

"When we get outta here, what are you planning to do, mon? You got somewhere you're trying to be, something you're trying to do, what?" I ask him as we approach the stairs. I step up the stairs and enter the final maze floor of the dungeon. Reaching this sorta lull, I turn to Arthur and see him with his head tilted, fingers against his chin, thinking.

Another signature Arthur pause ensues, and after a long, long moment, he looks at me and says, "I'm not really sure, honestly."

I raise my brows in surprise. Usually, an east coast 'mon, all the way out here, they'd have some kind of business out here. I was expecting maybe he was visiting someone, or maybe he even had some kind of trading out here to do. I guess he must be a kind of wanderer type.

My face settles into a smile as I say, "Well, when we get outta here, you should come crash with me and my pal Snizzy, mon. You can hang out while you figure your stuff out." He looks surprised at this, but he gives me a small smile and nod, before looking away at everything in the room.

With that settled, we've only got one more set of stairs to find, and we'll be outta here lickity split. "Okay Arthur, we only gotta find this last staircase, alright? Let's get going!" I exclaim, trying to channel my inner team leader. To my surprise, I hear an "Alright, Cole!" behind me from Arthur, and I can't help but smile.

Yeah, this guy's going on the team for sure.


	5. Chapter 4 - Got Me Running

Chapter 4 - Got Me Running

Upon our leaving the initial room and exploring our first corridor, I start noticing something subtly different about the direction we're headed. While we have long since passed the point where grass ceased covering the ground part way through the previous floor, the forest surrounding us has begun to thin out as well.

This is only highlighted by the fact that this path is much longer than any of the previous ones we've been down. Trees and shrubs get thinner, featuring less leaves. Where there were once flowers behind the invisible walls only sprigs of grass remains, and dirt becomes the predominant texture of the ground.

Needless to say, it is a bit off putting. I wouldn't call it scary, per say, but I can say that there's a certain sense of being somewhere we shouldn't in the air.

I glance over at Cole, but he seems fairly unperturbed. I suppose this might be another area wherein it is my own lack of acclimation to Mystery Dungeons that is bothering me more than anything else. Just in case, however, I prepare to ask a question to Cole.

"Hey Cole, uh…" I begin, clasping my hands together near my waist. "Doesn't this seem… a bit, um, strange? With how the trees and, well, fortre- forest is thinning out?" I ask as I glance behind us, nerves starting to gnaw at me a touch.

Cole looks back at me as we treck down this elongated hallway. "Don't worry about it, dude," he says.

"Butterfree said there was an earthquake. If a big ol' fissure opened up and Butterfree's kid fell in, then the Dungeon was probably damaged too." He turns his attention back to the path ahead, and we both spot a fork in the path.

He starts talking again as we come upon said fork. "I mean, honestly, the forest clearing out to fresh ground just tells me that we're going the right way, y'know?" he says, looking down both potential routes. I take a glance as well, and notice that one path continues down into pure dirt and jagged roots, while the other one hosts more and more plant life as it continues.

"We should go this way," Cole says while going down the more desolate path. I go on and follow him, my sense of unease still present, but much less strongly than before.

The idea of the outside affecting the internal workings of a Mystery Dungeon, unlike everything else about these things, does make a certain amount of sense to me. While I may find the particular affects of this earthquake on this Dungeon a touch unsettling, the fact that I can wrap my head around this at all is a wonderful change of pace.

We continue down the corridor, before eventually coming to another room. I see, right beside the entrance to the next path, what looks like at first glance to be a disc of some sort, and I walk over to inspect it.

Picking it up, I notice it's a lot thicker than it looks. Turning it around in my grasp, I realize that, while it is shaped like a disc, it's actually a case of some sort. Finding a latch on the side, I pop it open and find… a scroll?

Yup, it is indeed a scroll. There are also a handful of other small trinkets inside the case, but the item that immediately grabs my attention is the scroll. Why is there a scroll? What is the purpose of leaving this out here? Did somebody drop it?

I hear Cole walk up to my side. "Whatcha got there… oh!" he says, with what I interpret as a happy kind of surprise. "You don't see one of these every day out here!"

"W-what is this?" I ask with a raised 'eyebrow'.

Cole looks over at me confused. Oh, I must have asked something dumb. "What, you don't know?" he asks surprised.

Yup, here we go…

"This is a TM - Training Manual if you're a nerd. They're these little guides on how to perform certain moves."

He takes the scroll in his talon and gives it a once over.

He holds the scroll up to show a little star seal on it. "If you can do them, anyways. This little star here," - he gestures to the seal - "means it's a normal type technique. Most 'mon can learn these kinds of moves. If it's got a different seal, it's more specifically for that kind of Pokémon, usually."

Cole hands the scroll to me, and I put it back inside the disc case. "You should hold on to that, dude. It won't make you a master, but you could probably learn something good with that," he says while I leave my berry behind to take the case.

"Besides, you could always sell it, y'know," he says with a wink.

I nod to him, and we continue down the next corridor.

I will need to learn how to battle properly, won't I? I know Cole says I can stay with him, and he's fairly capable, but if this place is any indication, knowing how to fight is very important here. I don't know how much fighting I'm going to have to do, but I will need to know how to defend myself. Maybe this TM is exactly what I need…

I put my thoughts aside as we enter our next room. The dirt floor is cracked and dry as we walk in. The only indication of plant life to be had here are the jagged twigs and broken trunks of trees. In the far left corner of the room, is the final staircase.

I rush over to the staircase with joy. We've finally reached the end!

"Alright, we made it!" I hear Cole say beside me.

It was a difficult, painful journey up to this point, but we've made it. We've made it! The end of the Mystery Du-

Prior to me completing my thought, I hear the rushing of air and the ruffling of feathers above us. Before I'm really able to react, I feel the sharp end of a beak impact my skull and send me to the ground with a painful 'konk'.

"Arthur!" I hear Cole exclaim.

The effect this has on me is, to say the least, not great. My eyes are temporarily blinded by a wash of stars and noise as I clutch the spot where I've been pecked. I let out a loud groan as I try to recover from the painful strike. I note that I've naturally coiled up, and I uncurl myself, slowly getting to my feet, unsteady.

Taking stock of my surroundings, I notice that I've been knocked away from the staircase. Cole is looking up to the sky with frustration, and I follow his gaze to find our assailant: a lone Pidgey, flying around in circles.

The Pidgey takes a sudden turn and I look at them in the eyes as they try to dive-bomb me once again. Before it can impact me, I fling myself out of the way, landing on my stomach. I hear it fly past, the speed kicking up a small amount of dust in its wake, and I am very briefly relieved that I won't have to deal with an even worse ache in my skull than I already have.

Cole quickly steps in front of me as I get up once again. His talons scratch the ground as he glares at the Pidgey in the air. "Get down here, you bastard!" he yells into the sky, before raising his talon and making the same pose I saw him do against the Wurmple from earlier.

The Pidgey takes the bait, and dives down again. I see the bird set on a collision course with another bird, and I quickly scurry off to the side. Right as I bump into the staircase, I see Cole strike downwards at the Pidgey, only to find himself missing when our attacker dodges to the side.

He ends up with a stomach full of beak for his troubles.

Cole is knocked down to the side, and I hear him hit the ground with a 'pomf'.

I realize that my heart is pounding in my ears. I don't know what to do, and I look around frantically for the Pidgey. I know I can't take this bird on. It is way too fast, and I'm not strong or quick enough myself to hit it when it comes to dive bomb me. Apparently neither is-

I leap out of the way of another divebomb.

-Cole. If I can't hit them, can't keep up with them, and can't even do an actual move, how am I supposed to fight them? Surely there must be something we can do? Can we escape some… how… ?

Wait.

Cole is standing upright now, staring the Pidgey down. I open my mouth. No sound comes out as I hear my heart in my ears and grasp my chest with my left hand. My mouth feels dry, but after a long moment and a divebomb-dodge from Cole, sound is finally able to escape me.

"Cole, I- we can't fight this Pidgey. We have to get out of here!" I say, running up to his side as he lands on his feet. I tug on his feathers, and he looks back at me momentarily.

I realize that I'm distracting him from the fight Pidgey is trying to have with us, so I begin jogging towards the stairs with Cole in tow. "Quick, we've got to get up the stairs!"

Cole says, "Okay!" with determination and a nod.

I hear a bird call behind us, and I realize that the Pidgey didn't stop attacking us just so we could talk. Looking back quickly, I see that the deranged bird is just barely starting to divebomb us once again. With only steps between us and the stairs, Cole and I pick up the pace, swiftly running to make it up the stairs before we get turned to bird food.

The air behind us is suddenly filled with the sound of feathers.

We make it up the first few steps.

The Pidgey flies straight into the stairs, knocking itself out cold, but…

We're already up the stairs.

* * *

With a mighty stumble, I crash into Arthur and we go sprawling on the floor. This doesn't help the fact that my stomach is still smarting a little bit, but the relief of being out of that situation let's me kinda ignore it.

Kinda.

I get up off of Arthur, and he hops up and scurries a few feet away from where we landed. He does his signature 'I'm going to look exactly everywhere except Cole' bit, before finally settling his eyes in my general direction.

"We…alright, we made it!" he says with a little smile.

"Yeah!" I say in response. Heck, not only did we make it out of that dumb fight, we also just so happened to make it to - I look around real quick and… yup, there they are! - Butterfree's kid!

I walk over to them with Arthur, and I see them munching on an apple, curled up and… chilling out?

"Hey there!" I start. "You're Butterfree's kid, yeah?"

They look up at us with their big buggy eyes. They uncurl themselves from their little spot in the dirt and take the finishing bite out of their apple. "Yup! That's me!" they say through a piece of apple in a girlish voice.

"You're Mom was pretty worried, y'know. She said there was some kinda earthquake. You alright?" I ask her with concern.

She takes a moment and inspects her body, looking at her stomach, her back, and looking up at her antenna. Eventually, finished with her checkup, she turns back to me. "Yup! I'm fine," she says with a squeak. "Can we go home now?"

"Yes we can!" I say happily.

I turn to Arthur, and see that he's taking in our cave-y surroundings. With a bit of the ol' gusto and a terrible Aguarian accent, I say "Come along Arthur! We must show the young lady back to her court," which gets both Arthur's attention, and a giggle from the little Caterpie girl.

With the little girl and Arthur in tow, I face the direction we came in and walk onwards to the exit.

This was a pretty weird day, all things considered. I met this Snivy dude, went dungeon diving to find some Butterfree's kid, and even lost a fight to another bird. I can't wait to get home, kick back, relax, and just chill out. Heh, in all this action I kinda forgot what I was doing out and about in the first place. Wasn't I supposed to go get something… ?

Oh well, whatever. I'm sure Snizzy'll give me an earful about it if it was actually important.

As we walk through this long cave back to the outside world, I hear Arthur clear his throat. Glancing over, I see him open and close his mouth. He meets my eyes and drops his gaze immediately. As I turn back to the cavern ahead, I hear him finally say something.

"Um, Cole," he begins. "Wh- how are we, um… getting out of here? Exactly?" he asks with what sounds to me like confusion.

"Huh?" I reply.

I look back at him again, and see that he's staring at the cave wall next to him as we walk and talk. I see his gaze fix on bits of root sticking out from the ceiling, before he says "Uh, al- let me ask something else. What I mean is, well, we came this way from below, right?"

"Yes… ?" I say. Where's he going with this?

"And is the exit straight ahead?" he asks while he fiddles with the latches on the TM case.

"Yes," I respond, eyebrow raised.

I turn my head back to the path, thinking Arthur's done with his questions, and see that the exit of this mystery dungeon is just in view. I recognize the light spilling in from the exit as a tell tale sign that we won't be here much longer.

Suddenly, I hear Arthur ask, "So, uh… why did we have to come rescue Caterpie? Couldn't she have just, well, walked?"

"Well, y'see Arthur…" I begin. I try to recall a reason as to why the kid couldn't have just left on their own. I mean, sure there isn't a maze to get lost in, or wild pokemon to fight, or annoying traps to fall into, but…

…Wait, actually, never mind, that's a great question.

"I'm… not sure, actually," I finish lamely with a tilt of my head. I look down at the Caterpie following us, and then back to the path ahead. Hmm…

Most of the time, when pokemon end up in mystery dungeons by accident, they end up at the start of the dungeon, regardless of which way they entered. To see this Caterpie at the end of a dungeon, totally unscathed, and just straight chilling is... well, it's weird, mon! Especially since we had such a hard time as a team!

"Hey Caterpie?" I say as we continue.

At this point, the exit is right in front of us, and with great satisfaction, I step out unto the chill autumn forest. I glance back at my companions and see them emerge from the mystery dungeon, weirdly flat foliage the only thing indicating where'd they been.

"Yes~?" she asks playfully.

I look back at her with both a tilted head and a raised eyebrow for maximum curiosity power. "How'd you end up at the end of the mystery dungeon? I know you're big n' strong, but no one attacked you, or anything?" I ask.

She looks up at me with her, admittedly, adorable bug eyes and says, "Ummm, well, some Wurmples tried to, but I string shotted them." She tilts her head in what I'm going to assume is some kind of buggy thinking pose.

"Oh! There was Pidgey on the third floor! He was mean at first, but I gave him an oran berry, and then he was nice!" she says, happily.

I hear a "Wha-!", before I turn to see Arthur give himself a good ol' fashioned face palm.

I am… wow, okay. Guess this kid can really handle themselves. I mean, here we were, having all this trouble, and this kid is just clearing house on both of us. Just… jeez, we really gotta train. A little girl got through a dungeon easier than we did, mon!

Ouch. That stings.

We continue through the forest, retracing our steps. Funnily enough, when you exit a mystery dungeon, you get spit out at the entrance. I don't let it bother me, but I kinda see why Arthur would find all this weird. I mean, hey, if I hadn't've ever entered a mystery dungeon, maybe I'd be just as weird as this guy.

After awhile, we come to a clearing. I see a purple bug pokemon flying in circles. They've got their antennas in their hands, and while I can't tell what exactly they're saying, I know fretting mom noises when I hear them. I think we've found our Butterfree.

I hear a little squeak to my side, and in an instant I see Caterpie rush over to her mom. Butterfree's head perks up, and she turns to face her daughter. Within seconds, Caterpie tackle-hugs Butterfree, and they fall to the ground giggling together.

"Oh, my baby! You're back!," she says with all the motherly love in the world as Arthur and I walk into Butterfree's clearing. We watch her and Caterpie have their heartwarming reunion for a bit, but Butterfree notices us eventually, and the moment ends as she takes flight again.

"You two really helped a mother out. I can't thank you two enough!" she says with gratitude.

I rub the back of my head with my feathers. She looks at us both while I say "Heh, it's no problem, dude. What kinda 'mons would we be if we said no?"

"Oh, if only more rescue teams were like you two," she says. "Here, I have your reward."

She flys over to me and gives me 400 poké. I take the eight 50 poké coins, and she flies over to Arthur. Looking over, I see that Arthur is looking down at the grass again. Butterfree takes out a cobalt blue scarf and wraps it around Arthur's neck, which going off his wide eyes, really surprised him.

Arthur's hand reaches up to feel his new scarf, and I turn back to Butterfree. She flies down and nuzzles her child, before saying, "Again, thank you two so much! I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to my baby."

She ends the nuzz' and looks at us again. "If I ever need help again, I'll be sure to talk to you two. What's your team's name?" she asks.

I reply with, "Team Aurora."

"Okay. Team Aurora, thank you!" she says. With that, she and Caterpie turn and leave to where ever it is that they're going to.

* * *

As I watch the retreating forms of both Butterfree and Caterpie, I find myself running my hands along my new scarf. The silky smooth feel, and extremely soft fabric are just so pleasent that its nearly unbearable. I'm almost over come with just how wonderful this scarf truly is, and the brilliant and striking shade of blue appeals to my aesthetic sense in a way that I can't quite describe with mere words.

The scarf is, admittedly, a touch large on my small frame. The ends of it hang down about half the way to my legs. This doesn't really bother me, the more of this stunning fabric the better, but I can see that it may be an issue later.

I hear a shifting of talons next to me, and glance over in Cole's direction. He's taken to facing outwards towards the road.

This clearing in which we've been the recipients of gratitude is really what looks to me like a resting area along the road between two places. It's cleared out and spacious, even though the rest of the forest can seem a bit dense, and there's some evidence of Pokemon having passed through here; a handful of apple cores and half-finished berries scattered about here and there.

"Alright, Arthur, let's get going. We gotta get you situated at our place, and you gotta meet Snizzy," I hear Cole say from the road.

I hurriedly walk over to meet him. To be honest, I'm fairly nervous. I have found myself growing a certain fondness for this companionable Torchic, and I really don't want to make a bad impression on this Snizzy person. Just imagining all the things that could go wrong with this person who Cole holds in esteem really sets my stomach off as we walk.

I focus on the soft chirps and buzzes of the forest to try and keep myself calm. My ears catch the sounds of trees in a light breeze as my heart refuses to do anything except get louder. I glance over at Cole briefly, who just walks without issue, before returning my sight to the grass once again.

This isn't working. I can't relax. Even though we're out of the Mystery Dungeon, and inside a real, actual forest, I can't seem to calm myself. I don't understand why. Why is it that I can at least calm myself within that bizarre facsimile of a forest, but I cannot within the real forest itself?

I realize that fixating on this feeling is only making it worse, so I decide to distract myself in a different way. Perhaps I can talk to Cole? That should hopefully take my mind off of this so that I don't present as some sort of unworthy nervous wreck to this Snizzy person.

"So, uh… Cole," I begin.

I hear Cole respond with a "Yeah?" and I continue.

"You and Butterfree said something about, uh… us being a Rescue Team?" I ask.

I hear a stick break underneath Cole's talons as he responds. "Yup. You gotta do something while you stay with us, dude. So you're part of Team Aurora now!" he says with some subdued enthusiasm.

I guess that makes sense. After all, I will be staying with them for some time while I learn about this world and the Pokemon in it. I can't just mooch off of Cole's generosity. It only makes sense that I'd be working with him in Team Aurora for the time being, though as an aside, it does seem odd to me that a fire-type like Cole is on Team Aurora.

"Wha- um, why is the Team called Aurora? You're, well, you're a fire type, right?" I ask, curious.

"Oh!" Cole says. "Well, I didn't pick the name, y'know. Snizzy's the guy in charge, I'm just his partner, mon."

Oh great.

Oh god I'm going to go meet the leader. Oh geez, what am I going to do? Oh no, I'm a terrible dungeoneer! I'm going to get kicked out immediately. I'm going to walk in the door, and they're just going to throw me out in seconds for not being competent. Not fit to fight, too dumb to resolve things peacefully with a berry that I left behind like an absolute nimrod! What am I going to do?! Oh geez, oh gee-

"Uh, you alright dude?" Cole asks from beside me, breaking me from my thoughts. I realize that I'm breathing fairly hard. My stomach is doing somersaults while my brain waterboards me with apprehension about the trial ahead.

I open my mouth to respond, but find that words escape me. I clutch the ends of my scarf in my hands as I rub the beautiful fabric between my palms and pointer fingers. The texture is just so wonderful, and while it doesn't stop everything going on, it gives me some ground to anchor myself to.

Eventually, after awhile of Cole seeming concerned for my well being, and me not helping the situation by being silent, I'm able to talk.

"I'm just… I'm so nervous. I don't kn- what if Snizzy's- Just…" I trail off at this point, but I think Cole can understand what's going from that much, at least.

As we reach the edge of the forest, I can see in the distance a stone building. Something about the cool blue-tinged grey, combined with the absence of grass in a few foots radius around the building gives off a very cold impression to me. It's both curious and uninviting on some sort of strangely instinctual level.

"You're nervous about meeting Snizzy, huh?" I hear Cole ask a little more softly than I'm used to from him. I glance over at him and see that he's looking at me with a sort of sympathy. Something about the way his head feathers are a bit more limp gives a disarming impression.

"Don't worry, I kinda get it," he says. As we walk closer to the house ahead, I can hear the understanding in Cole's voice, and it helps bring me further back to earth. "An experienced hardcore guy like Snizzy? Heck, I was kinda nervous when I first met him too, dude. He can be kinda… intense."

We walk up to the porch of the house, and I realize that this must be the home of Snizzy and Cole. "Look, I'm here with you. I'll help you out, dude, don't worry. He can be a bit much, but I promise Snizzy just wants to help, even if he doesn't like to show it," Cole says.

I look up at the dark wooden door in front of me. I feel so small, and even though the door isn't much taller than me, I still feel as though it towers over me imposingly. The sun is setting behind our backs, casting our shadows over the door.

"Just knock, dude, it'll be alright," I hear from my left.

I take a deep breath…

And I knock on the door.


	6. Chapter 5 - Cold Sweat

As the door opens, I am hit by a burst of cool air from the inside of the building.

I look to see who I presume to be Snizzy, and I find myself greeted by the sight of dark blue fur. I notice a shiny golden patch of fur on their chest, and I look up to see the frowning face of a Sneasel looking down at me, complete with a long and flat-tipped ear-feather.

"Hey Snizzy, check it out, dude, I found our next member!" Cole exclaims happily.

I can feel Snizzy scrutinize me as I stand there. I clutch the ends of my scarf in my hands as I endure the Sneasel's inspection. My lips form a tight, thin line, and I become intimately familiar with my own discomfort.

Suddenly, I hear a slightly deep, intimidating voice. There's a very subtle rasp at the back end of it that gives the impression of frustration, though the tone remains neutral. From out of Snizzy's mouth, I hear simply, "Well?"

I'm not sure if he's talking to me or not, but judging from how I hear nothing from Cole, I can only presume that an answer is expected of me.

"W-well what?" I ask, nervously.

I see Snizzy shift slightly, before he says, "Well, do you want to join the Team or not?"

I nod as hard as I can. I don't have anywhere else to go, or anything else to do. I don't want to go somewhere without Cole either, as he's a far more capable battler than I am, and if I end up in a Mystery Dungeon on my own, I doubt my ability to navigate it safely.

"You're quiet," I hear Snizzy say.

I look up at his face anxiously, but to my surprise, I see him smirking down at me. "I like that," he says, before turning around and going inside the house.

"Get in here," he calls back.

I look over to my side at Cole, only to find him walking into the house. I follow, and the door closes behind me as I enter the house.

As I step onto dark blue floorboards, I notice that the air inside the house is cold, colder than the cool air outside. Glancing around the room, I see furniture. There's a small stone table with a couple of even smaller, red sitting cushions surrounding it. On the table is a lamp, which combined with the natural light of the setting sun, illuminates the single room.

In the back of the room is a banner, red and gold, with a genuinely fascinating pattern. I don't know the significance of the pattern, however, I do know that it is quite intricate. I move closer to inspect it, and find the lines and dots that make up the pattern quite satisfying.

Interlocking T shapes in columns, the negative space filled in with glittery points, and this all being surrounded by wave-like lines. As the pattern continues, I notice the depth of it, the way in which these details are slightly raised above the red background fabric.

I want to reach out and touch it, but I know that it would probably make me seem weirder than I would like to.

Suddenly, I realize that I'd walked all the way to the side of the room which holds the banner, and I turn around to see the rest of the room that I had missed. There are two straw beds to my left side, and a subdued blue shelf to my right.

"So where did you find this Snivy?" I hear Snizzy ask, presumably to Cole.

I look to where I hear the voice from, and realize that the two Pokemon had made their way to the table, and are sitting on the cushions. Deciding to not be rude, I sheepishly make my way over there and take a seat on the floor while putting my TM case on the floor next to me, as there is no cushion for me to sit on.

"Well, when I found them, they were just passed out in the forest. I was like 'hey, that's pretty odd and kinda dangerous. This is how Pokemon's stuff gets stolen!" he says. "So I woke him up."

I hear a subtle slurping sound to my left, and glancing over, I see that Snizzy is sipping on some sort of drink. I can't see the drink in question, as it's inside a wooden cup. Snizzy puts the drink down after taking his sip, and turns to me

"What were you doing there passed out?" he asks me with a serious tone.

I honestly don't know. I haven't been able to remember what I was doing there, or even what my life was like up to that point. All I have is my name and the vague impression that I'm supposed to be human, but quite frankly, I'm doubting that latter notion more and more as this day has progressed.

Ultimately, I don't say anything. I don't really have anything that I can say truthfully, and something about lying seems extremely unappealing to me. I keep quiet, and the moment drags on as I feel Snizzy's eyes bore deep into my soul.

"Yeah, he doesn't really talk at all when you meet him," I hear Cole say to my right. "You get used to it. He'll open up when he gets more comfortable with you, I guess."

I stare down at the table between the three of us as I hear Snizzy respond with, "Mhm. Is there anything *you* can tell me about him, Cole? What are his skills, how's he useful?"

I do have to admit that the craftsmanship involved with this table really is something. The cool grey stone is streaked with darker grey lines, and the whole thing is cut very precisely. It seems very sturdy, and while the texture is a bit rough, it's also very straight and streaked, which I find pleasant.

"Well, he's pretty observant, for one thing," Cole says, which makes my face warm up a bit. "He was able to spot a Mystery Dungeon all on his own while we were on the move."

Snizzy lets out a "hmm," before continuing. "Useful. That could be an asset, yes…" he says with a ponderous tone.

"He's also not too shabby in combat," Cole begins. "We had to go into a Mystery Dungeon to help out this Butterfree, and, y'know, some battles happened."

I blush harder than I had before, and drop my gaze to the floor while I hear Cole grossly overestimate my abilities. "He's not trained, but he's clever. He can think on his feet when he needs to, even if he's kind of a scaredy Meowth."

"I see…" Snizzy says in response.

I look up at the two Pokemon evaluating me, and find Snizzy to be looking at me curiously. His hand is holding his chin in a thinking gesture. I hear a quiet, "Hmm…" from him, before he opens his mouth once again.

"You have no training what so ever?" Snizzy asks as he turns to look at me once again. I look at him in kind, and find a small frown and a cocked brow.

I shake my head 'no'. I don't have any training, or at the very least, if I do, I can't remember it.

I hear Snizzy let out a "hmph," before gets up from his seat. He walks over to the shelf and pulls out an item - a small piece of wood, with straw tied to the end making up a cheap broom - before walking back to where we are.

"In that case, training will begin first thing in the morning. Until you are ready to go on real missions, you will perform menial tasks for the Team," he says, whilst handing me the broom. I take the rough wood in my hands, grasping it.

"You will sweep, you will clean, and you will train," he tells me seriously, punctuating each item of the list with a poke to my chest .

I nod my head in understanding. I do not want to intrude upon either Snizzy or Cole. I lack money, and with no associates to stay with, it's only fair that I earn my place here somehow.

Looking at Snizzy, I see him smirk. "Good," he says with crossed arms. "Welcome to Team Aurora."

I accept the welcome with a small smile. While Snizzy is certainly very intimidating, this meeting has gone much better than I had hoped. I feel a small amount of relief as I lay the broom down next to me on the floor, and realize that I also feel better in general.

Meeting Cole, going through a Dungeon, meeting Snizzy, it's all had me feeling so wound up today. I've been going through confusion, frustration, anxiety, and to finally reach what's effectively the end of the day having conquered these circumstances - it feels good.

Even if Snizzy still makes me nervous.

Snizzy turns to look at Cole, before saying, "It's getting late. Get a fire started so I can make us dinner. We've got a long day tomorrow."

"Yessir!" Cole says with enthusiasm, before running off outside to do as he was told.

"Now, as for you," Snizzy begins, glancing my way. "Sit here and stay quiet. You're good at that. I have to prepare my ingredients."

With that, Snizzy turns and walks over to the shelf from before. I hear him pick up an object, and glancing over, I see a blue box made from some type of stone.

Watching him curiously from the table, I see Snizzy place the box on the floor and open it. What looks like cold vapour rises from the edges of the box, and Snizzy reaches in and pulls out a handful of berries.

Of the three varieties he pulls out, I only recognize two. First, is the Chesto berry, which seems to have more in common with a nut than a berry. It clacks onto the lid of the box, which is what I'm assuming Snizzy is using as a preparation station.

The second berry I recognize as a strange variety of black berry. It's much larger than I feel it should be as a black berry, and much blue-r as well, but otherwise, black berry is the first word that comes to mind when I look at it.

Finally, the berry which I don't recognize at all. It's pink, it is big, and it has an extremely odd shape to me. It's almost triangular, in the way that it bulges towards the top before tapering off at the end. It's semi-sections all converge at a final point towards the butt of the fruit.

Without much delay, Snizzy begins preparing his berries. He unsheathes his claws and begins cutting the pink berries into even strips. He then stacks them neatly, before slicing them down the middle so as to cut their lengths in half.

Next, he walks back to the shelf and finds himself a small pot, before returning to his preparation station and placing the big black berries inside. He uses his claws to turn them to a pulpy mush, before turning to his final ingredient - the Chesto berry.

He picks one up and does something that, to me, is fairly amazing. Holding it with one hand, all I see is a blur of claws and Chesto bits as he shaves it quickly from a 'berry' to a pile of flakes. It happens in what feels like moments, and it is stunning to see.

With that, Snizzy takes the black berry mush in one hand, and the psuedo-tray of Chesto flakes and berry slices, and walks over to the door with them. I see him turn to look at me, and my gaze drops to the floor.

"Come open the door," he says with a little annoyance.

I quickly get up from my spot on the floor and scurry over to the door. I open it, and Snizzy walks out to the outside, where it's already dark out. I spot a fire pit a number of feet to the right, away from the house, and Snizzy makes his way over there.

I see Cole greet him, and I soon follow.

* * *

Wood.

I like wood, I guess. We've used it for thousands of years, or whatever. We've all got a little wood in our lives. It's useful, it's sturdy, it's a great euphemism - it's got a lot of good uses, y'know? You just can't knock wood.

Only one problem.

This stuff is damn heavy.

I mean, that's common knowledge, right? Wood, especially the log sections I have to carry right now, are famously kinda heavy. Common wisdom suggests that if a log is too heavy for you, you oughta just chop it up some, yeah?

Well, I guess that is good advice for most 'mon. I really shouldn't have an issue with that, I'm a strong dude. I can lift some pretty hefty stuff with my beak, y'know? I once hung over a raging pond by a branch with just my beak for an hour until someone got me.

So what's the problem?

Well, for one thing, the logs are a little taller than me. I'm a Torchic for crepe's sake, of course they're taller than me!

But that's not quite it. With my raw first-evo powah, I should be able to chop wood, right? You'd think that I wouldn't have any trouble lifting an axe. And you'd be right! Buuut…

The axe is also taller than I am, and I can't even lift the damn thing without falling on my side immediately.

Turns out, it's hard to pick up an axe with talons for feet, and really hard to pick up an axe with feathers for hands. These are not limbs meant for lifting things, no matter how much I train.

So… what to do…

I've got a fire pit, a stack of logs, and barely any sunlight. This is what we in the rescue team industry call, a bit of an aguav berry.

After a bit of pacing back and forth, I gotta admit, I'm kinda stumped. Usually I'd just go get a bunch of sticks from the woods, but with the sun going- Wait, that's what I was supposed to get for Snizzy! I was supposed to get sticks for later! Which is now!

Argh!

Damnit.

Whatever! I don't need any damn sticks anyways! They're just logs for losers! Do I look like a loser to you!?

Don't answer that.

…

Arcues, it's a good thing I live with Snizzy now. Too much time on the road's got me with a habit of thinking to myself like I'm another 'mon. I gotta kick that habit…

Anyways, I gotta figure out how to get this fire going.

So. I've got this big stack of logs here. And a pit. All that I've gotta do is get a log into the pit. Simple. Easy! Fun.

I take a good long look at the big stack of logs in front of me. Let's see, maybe if I… hm… um…

Oh!

… but would that work?

I hop up onto one of the logs. Then the next one, so on and so forth, until I reach the top of the pile. With sunlight dwindling pretty quickly, I gotta do this asap.

I find the top most log, and I mentally prepare myself.

C'mon. I'm a Torchic, mon. We are a proud, respected people, famed for our physical prowess. For generations, we have mastered our bodies and minds. I can feel my ancestor's blood flowing through my veins, and I know that they're giving me the strength to do what needs to be done.

I let loose a huff, and scruff my talon on the log beneath me.

One…

Two…

Three!

With that, I take a mighty leap, and using my talons, give a great big kick to the top most log. It kinda hurts, but I know I at least did something, because I hear the log roll down the mound of other logs and land somewhere with a 'tumb'.

I land, and turn around to find…

Yes!

It landed in the fire pit. It landed in the fire pit! Hah, take that, elders, I told you I'm strong!

…

Yeah, I really need to kick this habit.

I hop down the mound of logs, log by log, until I reach the ground. It stings as I land on my talon, but it's nothing I can't handle as I make my way over to the fire pit.

I inhale, and feel a warm pressure in my throat. I let it build, the warmth turning to heat, and then that heat turning to burning embers. I look, take aim, and with little fanfare, I fire my embers at the log.

It doesn't catch fire straight away, but with a little bit of effort, and a couple more tries, I get a nice fire going.

Being a fire type, the fire is very pleasant to me. The heat, the glow, the crackles and snaps - it reminds me of home, y'know? It's got this quality to it that makes me feel nice and comfortable. It brings to mind sights, sounds, and smells that make me think of how things used to be.

Nostalgic, that's the word. It's very nostalgic.

I take a seat right in front of the fire. The orange glow of the fire lights up the area around me as the sun sets all the way. I don't really pay attention to it all, but it really completes the atmosphere. Brings the scene together.

As I sit near the loving heat, I hear foot steps. I turn to look, and see Snizzy with two hands full of stuff. In one hand he's got a tray with chesto flakes and bits of persim berry, and the other hand has an iron pot full of… let's see… aw, heck yeah, bluk berry!

"Hey Snizzy! What we looking at, dude? Some bluk berry stew?" I ask, hype for some delicious food.

He puts the tray on the ground, and holds the pot out over the fire. "Yes," he says, while picking out the persim chunks and adding them to the stew, "Bluk berry stew with persim and chesto flakes."

"That sounds awesome!" I exclaim.

Snizzy smirks. "Indeed."

With Snizzy making the stew, I suddenly realize that a certain grassy snake-boi is missing from the equation.

Looking around, I try to see if he's just being quiet again, or if I have to go get him from the house. Let's see, grass… a few trees… rocks… hous- wait! There he is! A wild shy guy approaches!

Arthur walks up to us slowly and quietly. I see him more clearly as he gets closer to our fire, and he approaches Snizzy and I as shyly as ever. I put on as friendly a face as I can, and walk over to meet him.

"Hey 'mon, what's up? You ready for some deliciousness?" I ask him.

Arthur glances up at me, and responds, "Yes. It seems, um, good."

I sit again by the fire as Snizzy cooks the bluk berry stew. Leaning over, I give the ground beside me a little pat. "Come sit, dude, it's nice by the fire," I say warmly.

I see Arthur slowly make his way from the edge of the glow to near where I am. He stays back from where I had pat, but still takes a seat next to me. "The fire is hot. W-well, I mean, of course it is, it's just- um," he stammers.

"Don't worry, dude, it's fine. You're a grass type, I get it," I say so he calms down a little.

I let the sounds of cooking and fire wash over me as we sit together. "You've been all kinds of worked up, mon, just… relax, y'know?" I tell Arthur.

"Hey," I hear from the otherside of the fire pit. Looking over, I can see Snizzy looking right at me while he cooks. "The stew's almost ready. Go get some bowls," he says curtly.

I hop up from my spot quickly, and turn to go do just that. "You got it!" I call back as I walk over to the house.

* * *

Sitting by the fire is somewhat pleasant. While I'm not exactly one for the scent of smoke, I can't deny the satisfaction that comes when I hear the wood make a flame induced 'snap' or 'crack'. Plus, the little embers that spark up as a result of this phenomena are very pretty.

Of course, there's also the orange glow, the way the fire illuminates the area around us. The shadows cast from the pile of wood a few feet to our side, the earth beneath me, the sight of stars in the sky, it all comes together to make this wonderful atmosphere.

Honestly, I can say that for the first time since waking up, I feel… comfortable. Content. If this moment went on forever, then I would not complain.

Now, there is the caveat that Snizzy is here, and Snizzy is, as Cole described, intense. However, in this particular moment, it's hard to stay nervous around him.

Glancing over, he looks… serene. Relaxed. There's just something about his demeanor that tells me he's doing something he really enjoys doing. Maybe it's the way he's watching over his stew so carefully, or the smirk as he cooks, but he seems like he's in his element.

As I sit, scarf around my neck and fingers tapping on the ground beneath me, I hear the sound of talons behind me. Looking over, I see Cole walking over and carefully balancing three wooden bowls on his head.

"Hey Arthur, help me out here, dude!" I hear him say.

I get up from my spot on the ground and go to help him carry the bowls to Snizzy. I take two off of his head, holding one in each of my hands, and he looks at me.

"Thanks, mon, it's hard to balance that stuff," Cole says, his voice telling me that he's both grateful and relieved.

I give him a little smile and nod, before turning to Snizzy.

Snizzy has taken the pot off the fire and set it down on the ground. We walk up to him, and give him our bowls, which he takes.

He pours some stew into a bowl, which seems thick and dark, with chunks of that pink fruit floating here and there in the rich purple broth. He takes the Chesto flakes, and he sprinkles a pile unto the top as well, before handing it to Cole.

"Alright!" he says, looking excited to eat.

To say it looks appetizing is an understatement. Sure, the colours aren't one my brain typically associates with food, but the sheer vibrance of the purple stew, with pink chunks and a mix of brown and blue on top strong arms my mouth into salivating.

I await in eager anticipation as Snizzy hands me a bowl of the stuff for myself. It's warm to the touch, and the pleasently bizarre scent assures me once and for all that this, indeed, will be quite tasty.

I sit down near the fire once again, bowl in lap, before I realize something important.

"Uh, hey Cole," I begin, looking over to him.

He looks up at me from his own bowl, which he's placed on the ground. His beak and lower face are dyed a rich, dark purple as little blue flakes stick to his beak. He gives his beak a lick, before replying.

"Yeah?" he asks.

…

"I… nevermind," I respond. I'm honestly not entirely sure how to react. I was going to ask how we're going to eat this without a spoon, but I can see now that my avian associate has no compunctions about eating directly with his face.

I glance over at Snizzy, only to see him doing something very similar in pouring his stew directly into his face-hole like a barbarian.

I…

Welp.

When in Rome…


	7. Chapter 6 - I'm Only Sleeping

Dude.

Let it be known, Snizzy's cooking is absolutely, totally bomb. As. Heck.

Like, look, this guy can take three berries - just three! - and make one of the best dishes I've ever eaten in my life. Snizzy's stew was already tangy and sweet from the bluk berry, but then you put that subtle spice from the persim berry and that savory chesto? My mom couldn't cook this good with so few ingredients, mon!

And my mom is pretty awesome, so, y'know, eat that!

Anyways, so I'm over here, an empty bowl by one side, and a fire by the other. Arthur's laying on his back with a bowl of his own to the side. He's kinda using his big ol' scarf as a sort of pillow, I guess. He's just staring up at the sky, being quiet, and we're chilling in the fire's warmth together. It's nice.

At times like these, where you got the fire going, and you got the stars in the sky, and everything is coming together just right, you just kinda feel good. Whether I'm alone, or with a couple 'mon, or a whole bunch of them, nights like this make me feel alright.

As Arthur and I chill under that big giant moon, I relax. I just sit back, smile, and enjoy myself.

I can hear Snizzy doing something or other on the other side of the fire pit. Sounds like he's putting everything away, what with the pot banging around. Guess we must be going in soon.

Ah well, whatever.

I get up off the ground and stretch a little. Looking at Arthur, I ask, "Hey dude, I think we're going in soon. Can you get my bowl for me?"

I see Arthur look up at me. He doesn't say anything back, which I guess I expect now after having spent so much of the day with him. No, instead he just gets up, dusts off his scarf, and puts back on. He grabs his bowl, before walking over to me and grabbing mine as well.

Snizzy walks out from the other side of the fire pit. He looks at me, looks at Arthur, and then looks at the fire. Without a word, Snizzy kicks some sand onto the fire, which deadens the flames a bit. He puts a fist up to his mouth, making a little tube with his hand, and uses his icy wind technique to cool the temperature of the log and pit to the point where the fire goes out.

With that done, Snizzy turns back to us and says, "Alright, both of you, inside."

Snizzy walks past us, heading towards the house. Arthur follows close behind, and I follow Arthur as we head back to Snizzy's house.

"Tomorrow, I want you two up first thing in the morning. We will train, and once we are done, Cole and I will be going on a mission," Snizzy says to the both of us as we enter into his humble abode.

"As for you, Snivy, you will clean the house, wash the dishes, and when you have completed those tasks, you may take a break and continue training," Snizzy continues. "Is this clear?" he asks us both seriously.

Arthur simply nods, while I opt for a "Yessir!" and a solute instead.

Snizzy smirks at us. "Good," he says, before going over to the table and turning off the lamp. "If you are unsure about something, it will likely be explained in the morning."

The Sneasel walks to one of the beds, and then lies down before he says, "Now get some sleep - you'll need it."

With that, I go over to my bed as well. I hop on in, nestling myself into the straw and getting comfy. As I do this, I look over to see Arthur still standing by the table, looking at Snizzy and I longingly. For a second, I'm not sure what exactly his deal is before it hits me.

Arthur doesn't have a bed!

He looks at the floor around the table, and pulls one of the sitting cushions out. While he does this, I open my beak and ask, "Hey Arthur, you gonna be alright, mon? You can sleep in my bed, if you want. I can handle sleeping on the floor - I used to do it all the time!"

Arthur vigorously shakes his head at my offer. "Oh, no no no, it's fine. I'm - I'll be okay."

He takes off his big scarf and gets on the floor. Scootching up to the sitting pillow he pulled out, he let's his head rest on it as he lays down. He kinda curls up a bit and shivers, before he grabs his big scarf, unfolds and unrolls it all the way, and uses it as a sorta makeshift blanket.

Honestly, I feel kinda bad for the guy. Here I am, nice and cozy in my bed, and this guy's sleeping on the floor. I really want to trade places with him, because frankly I don't mind the floor, and I'd rather Arthur sleep on something comfortable.

Especially considering how cold Snizzy likes his house to be.

I'm not sure how to convince Arthur to sleep in my bed, though. I don't think he'd be cool with me sleeping on the floor either, if he's so insistent on sleeping on the floor in the first place…

'Mon, whatever. It's hard to make sense of this guy, y'know? Like, he seems pretty sharp. He's observant, he's clearly got at least a tiny bit of battle potential, but… I dunno, something just isn't clicking about this guy.

Like, okay, first off, he's a Snivy. Clearly, there's some kind of Aguarian descent there, 'cause Snivy aren't native to this side of the continent - they come from Agua. He doesn't have that accent, though, and he isn't related to those blue Snivys who live in town, so he's probably from the East Coast, right?

Well, if he's from the East Coast, and he ended up all the way on the other side of the continent and over the Silver Mountains somehow, why does he lack so much knowledge? Like, he's clearly not a dumb guy, I saw him reading his opponent in that first battle, I've seen him improvise - heck, he even pointed out that stuff with Caterpie that I wouldn't've even thought of!

And yet… he's doesn't get the idea of *floors* in a mystery dungeon, or the staircase, or even what TM's are! It's like… it just doesn't make sense, mon. You mean to tell me that this guy crossed a whole continent, but he's never seen a training manual? Not once ever?

It's not like he's a wildling either! He can talk, he's curious, and it's pretty clear that he's never been in a dungeon before.

So what gives?

Like, what could've possibly led to this guy? What circumstances need to be in your life for you to be like him? Discounting his demeanor, like, not even talking on a personality level, how does an Arthur happen?

I mean, clearly there's something going on with him. He's so cage-y and quiet, there has to be! I mean, normal pokemon don't act like he does. There's shy, there's awkward - and then there's Arthur.

It's like he's an alien or… some… thing…

Wait.

…

No, that's dumb. That'd be like something out of a story book - silly. There's gotta be a better explanation than that!

But what?

I shake my head tiredly as I lay back in bed. This is getting me nowhere.

As I shift to lay on my side, though, I still can't help but wonder. I guess I should count myself lucky, seeing as how he's not really, like, a hostile threat or anything. He's certainly a mystery, though, that's for sure.

I close my eyes, allowing myself to rest for the night.

Heh, it'd be pretty cool if I knew an alien dude, though… 

* * *

The floor is… very cold.

As I lie on the floor of Snizzy's house, scarf around me and pillow beneath head, I find myself slowly regretting not taking Cole up on his offer.

It turns out that, I being both a snake and a Grass Type predisposes me to strongly disliking the cold. I suppose I should have seen this coming, but I guess this is what I get for being an idiot and not thinking ahead. I should've put these factors together earlier

Either way, inspite of the cold, I do find myself in a less uncomfortable state of mind than earlier today. With the other two asleep, I find both that my previous feelings of nervousness has subsided, and that being functionally alone for the first time all day allows me time to pause and consider my situation more thoroughly.

As my eyes wander the dimly moonlit room, I decide to bring myself back to the beginning.

Let's see… what do I know?

I know I feel that I should be a human, though I can't say why that is. I also know that I don't remember anything from before today, for better or for worse. I'm terrible at combat and Dungeon diving as well.

So what happened to me?

I trace the faint outlines of tiles on the cieling with my eyes as I curl deeper into my scarf.

That is the million dollar question. What happened?

I don't know enough about the world around me at the moment to really be able to make an educated guess. This is… admittedly slightly frustrating, as I don't know the consequences of what happened to me either.

What if I had a family I was supposed to meet or return to, but now I can't or won't because I don't remember? Or, on the other hand, what if I owe someone dearly and I was given a beat down from lack of payment?

The second one may be less likely, but all the same, if it is true and I don't remember, that could 'cause some major issues - especially for Cole and Snizzy!

My nerves begin to gnaw at me again as I consider the possabilities. That I lack so much vital information is almost scary, in a way. The number of situations, possible bad scenarios - it nearly makes my head spin.

I heave a sigh as I consider my situation. Being as quiet as possible, a move little further up the pillow to try and get comfortable in spite of my ruminating. And the cold.

There really is not anything that I can do at the moment. I cannot just leave and ask random people. That would be very stupid of me, especially if one of them is responsible for what happened.

If it were to happen that I ask the perpetrators of my situation, then, well, I simply can't imagine it ending well.

I also cannot just go to Cole and Snizzy and tell them outright I'm an amnesiac. What kind of Rescue-er/Dungeonier could an amnesiac be? They would likely just send me away. Cole has too much respect for this Snizzy person to just up and leave him for some incompetent stranger he's known for a few hours tops.

So… I cannot do anything. Not right now, at the very least.

No, all I can do is just… be on this Rescue Team, I suppose. Go through Mystery Dungeons, travel, train. That's my life now.

Well… I guess that isn't so bad, then. That would probably help me figure out what happened to me. Maybe, at least. I don't know, but…

… it's a shot.

It's the best I have right now, so I suppose I just have to take it.

Yeah, maybe - I yawn - maybe it'll all work out…

…

…

…

I dodge to the left.

Fear, the taste of perspiration, physical tiredness - what I'm experiencing in the moment.

I'm somewhere I do not fully recognize. The dull yellow buildings around me are what I know as portable classrooms. I do not know how I know this, but much like the names of Pokémon, the information comes to me all the same.

Caught between two classrooms and a chain link fence, I wipe the sweat from my brow.

The desert heat bears down upon me as I dodge another strike from my assailants. Hopping to the right, a fist flies past my shoulder - where my face would have been had I not seen the punch coming so clearly.

Truth be told, this dance between my enemy and I is an old one. A tired tradition, the likes of which I am intimately familiar - and have become skilled in mitigating.

I know this. Somehow. I don't know this.

What's going on?

I jump back and hit the fence. A kick stops just short of my stomach.

With little thought, I reach out as quickly as I can. My hands reach his leg, and I've gotten ahold of my attacker.

They struggle. I wobble a bit as a result, but I realize fairly quickly what it is that I need to do.

I do not have the strength to throw, I do not have the will or power to break the leg, and I do not have the tools to do other forms of damage. My options are limited, but luckily for me, the option I do have is fairly simple in execution - and fairly reliable in reward.

I brace my shoes against the concrete beneath my feet, and my eyes lock on to something behind my attacker - a tree.

The tree is fairly small, rough bark, thin leaves, and fairly average in that respect.

The tree itself is not what is significant, however. No, rather, what has me interested is directly below the tree. There, I find a diamond shaped perimeter around the tree, wherein the concrete ends and soil begins so that the tree may grow.

That means a change in elevation, which to me, translates to a potential tripping hazard.

With leg in hands, I push forward.

My opponent seems surprised momentarily, and hops back unsteadily on one leg to try and keep balance. Every ounce of pressure I give, I recieve gains of ground in return.

This person is big. Overweight, I'd say, and certainly strong too. That means they must weigh more than they appear. While I am taller than them, it would be unfair to describe them as anything other than big.

And, well, the bigger they are and all that.

He falls backwards as he steps onto the edge of the diamond.

He begins to tilt. Behind his glasses, his eyes widen. My hands lets go of his leg as he reaches the apex of his backwards movement.

Ultimately, he hits the tree with the back of his skull, creating a painful 'konk' sound.

I decide it unwise to stick around, to either be blamed for the fight once again or suffer injuries from this gormless rube. Thus, I run.

And I run.

And I keep running as I hear shoes on grass behind me.

And I keep running as the sky turns black.

I run as the sun disappears, as the ground and buildings bleed together in a technicolour mess.

I run as the ground turns gradually less solid. As the air becomes thick. As the water fills my lungs, I don't stop running.

Distantly I hear a voice. Someone familiar. A friend?

Do I have one?

"H…"

"…ey…"

"Du…"

And then it hits me. 

* * *

Y'know, for someone who's so nervous, this dude's a really heavy sleeper!

To be honest, I'm almost a little worried myself.

Like, look, I live here. I've been a part of the Aurora experience for like, what, a month now? I know to get up before Snizzy does, but Arthur?

Well, he's new, 'mon, he doesn't know the Snizz way of life yet.

So here I am, standing over this guy. I give him a nudge, but that doesn't do much. I give a poke, I do a prod, I even open his eyelids!

No response!

So, just like with the logs from yesterday, I'm stumped - though I guess kicking him in the face would wake him up.

No, no, I can't do that. That'd be a real jerkish thing for me to do. And it'd only be kinda really funny! Like…

Actually, note to self, find good reason to wake someone up with a face-kick…

While I'm over here planning this hypothetical kick thing that I'll totally definitely not do, I start considering other options, 'cause apparently some 'mon are just bad at waking up.

"Uh, hey," I start, talking to Arthur quietly. "Dude."

I lean in closer, kinda right next to his ear now. "Dude, Arthur, hey, wake up 'mon. Snizzy's gonna be annoyed if you don't get up soon, and that's gonna suck."

I see him kinda wriggle for a second, before mumbling out some gobbledygook about water or whatever.

Alrighty, talking isn't gonna work either!

In that case, what to do… ?

While I'm over here, I realize that there's some light coming from the window. Window light means sun, sun means it's the crack of dawn, and the crack of dawn means…

"Cole. Is the Snivy up yet?" I hear from a deep, and deeply impatient voice, behind me.

I spin around real quick to face Snizzy, and he doesn't look happy one bit. He's got on his classic scowl, the crossed arms, but when you mix in that weird tired-frustrated he gets in the morning, he somehow looks more irritated than usual!

"No, I can't get the guy to wake up! He sleeps like a rock," I say to Snizzy as I walk over to where he is, and away from Arthur's depressing non-bed.

He let's out this irritated sigh with a nose pinch. Snizzy's face scrunches up, and he says, "Here, just… go outside, I'll wake him up."

I tilt my head at him, with the droopy crest feathers for added effect, before opening my beak to ask, "So, uh… what're you gonna do to the guy?"

Snizzy shakes his head at me, and says all curt, "Just go outside, Cole."

Not liking the weirdly ominous vibes in the room, and definitely not wanting an earfull from an irritated Snizzster, I decide to just do what he says.

With a not-unenthusiastic "Yessir," I walk past Snizzy and over to the door.

I open the door, step outside, and close it. Then, with no other 'mons watching what I'm doing, I scurry over to the side of our house and peep in through the window to see what Snizzy's gonna do.

It's kinda hard to stay on my tippy-talons without falling over, but I manage and am able to see into the house.

Then, I see Arthur finally get it.

And by get it, I mean Snizzy blows an icy wind into his hands to make a snowball, and beans Arthur in the face with said snowball.

There's this loud 'pomph,' and I see Arthur panic and get all tangled up in his scarf. He rolls around a little on the floor, kicking and pushing the thing off him, before he finally gets free from his blue cacoon.

He hops up onto his feet while he frantically wipes the snow from his face. I giggle from my spot at the window.

Maybe I should take a page out of the Snizz book. If the other 'mon a bit more fragile, something less, uh… cool than a face kick might still be funny.

Once Arthur gets the snow off his face, I see Snizzy say some stuff to him. He seems kinda annoyed, and while he's talking Arthur sorta shrinks in on himself a little, doing that thing where he stares at the floor.

Suddenly, Snizzy glares at me through the window. Surprised, and a little startled, I lose my balance and fall over backwards, hitting my head on the ground.

Ouch.

I slowly get up from the ground, shaking off a little dirt from my feathers. As soon as I get myself clean, I hear the door to the house open, and a moment later, Snizzy comes 'round the bend - scowl and Arthur in tow.

Snizzy just passes me by as he and Arthur walk, saying to me as he passes, "C'mon, we're going to the training grounds."

With an "Okay!," I follow the two, walking right beside Arthur as Snizzy leads us behind the house and into what seems like a small wood, to the untrained eye.

Luckily, me having a slightly trained eye - and also living here - let's me know that this isn't any ordinary wood, no. This, y'see, is an advanced wood.

And by that, I mean that it's got a bunch of training stuff in there, and it's where we train.

While we're walking, I notice that Arthur's giving off a weird vibe today. Looking at him, he doesn't seem like he's doing that thing where's just looking everywhere all the time constantly. He's just staring at the ground.

Well, okay, I guess that isn't super weird for Arthur by itself, but I swear there's something off today, 'mon. Something about his face, his posture - he seems, I dunno, down? Not quite that, but y'know, something in that area.

Guess there's only one way to figure out what's going on, huh?

"Hey, Arthur, dude, what's up?" I ask as Snizzy leads us through some bushes n' brushes.

Arthur's head snaps up to look at me briefly, before he looks away real quick. I see him open his mouth to speak, close it, and then open it again.

"Um, well… nothing really. I'm si- thinking about… certain things, um…" he says quietly to me, while he looks at the back of Snizzy's head with an expression that I can't quite identify.

Okay, so it probably has something to do with whatever Snizzy said to him.

I wave a feather at Arthur to catch his attention. He looks at me, and I gesture to Snizzy with my head, before I raise an eyebrow.

I can tell that he doesn't get it at first, because his face scrunches up all confused. A quick moment later, though, I see his mouth make an "O," and he nods slowly.

Damn, dude, what'd Snizzy say? I hope he wasn't all super harsh, or whatever. I'm pretty sure Arthur's still new to all this - don't want this guy getting all discouraged, right?

As I'm thinking through this, we come to an Oran bush. It's big, it's bushy, and most of all, this is the gateway. Beyond this door lies a world of imagination. Beyond this bush is…

… the Training Zone! 

* * *

We find ourselves in a clearing.

As I step out from behind Snizzy, I take in my surroundings more fully.

We are surrounded by a circle of tall trees. Each tree is much bigger than the house we left, and full with leaves tinged a limey green. Underneath, grass, roots, and the occasional mushroom can be found growing in the rich brown soil.

I find myself leaving my two partners behind as I wander the perimeter of the clearing. I hear the occasional crunch of leaves underneath, which I interpret as being a sign that we're in the very beginning of autumn - especially when taking the colour of the tree leaves into consideration.

It feels refreshing to gaze at shrubs, trees, sprigs of grass, and other manners of foliage. After yesterday, the imperfect nature of the plants around me has a somewhat calming effect.

Just seeing knots in wood, leaves partially eaten from the local population of bug Pokémon, and partially bent or broken branches makes me feel more at home, somehow. It feels… familiar.

It feels, unlike the Mystery Dungeon, like somewhere I am supposed to be.

It's only when I feel a pebble collide with the back of my head that I realize that I had, once again, gotten too caught up in my surroundings.

Rubbing the spot on the back of my head where I was struck, I turn around to see Cole standing at attention and Snizzy crossing his arms and subtly glaring at me.

"Get over here, Snivy. This is training. Show some discipline," he says sternly.

I quickly scurry over to Cole, somehow having already disappointed Snizzy twice today - first this morning, and now this.

Snizzy stands before us, silhouetted and imposing, shadow stretching over us from the rising sun. Only the red of his blunted ear-feather and the gleam of his fang can be seen clearly - an intimidating image.

"Alright, if we're all done sight-seeing -" he pauses to level me an irritated look, to which I respond by boring a hole into the ground with my eyes - "… We have some training to do."

"We have a new member, so I will go over our routine once again. If you have questions, you may ask, so long as it isn't stupid," he says.

I look back up, and see him turn around and walk a few paces into the center of the clearing. Bringing his arms to his sides, he says, "Today, we will be focused on assessing your weaknesses and figuring what you can improve on - by any means necessary."

Raising a claw with a singular blade up, he continues, "This means we will undergo a hodgepodge of physical conditioning, mental evaluation, and sparring."

"Normally, we'd only focus on one for a day - today is a special case. Should you chose to give anything less than your full effort and undivided attention, I will chose to give you any number of painful - but nonlethal - injuries," he says, with a sneer.

"Showing anything less than the utmost discipline for and dedication to the fine art of combat, rescuing, and or dungeoneering is… ill advised, in my presence," Snizzy says, voice going low.

This illicits small stab of anxiety in me.

"With that out of the way, do either of you have any questions?" he says, crossing his arms once again, the sun now having risen enough to give a clear picture of his cutting smirk.

I glance over at Cole, to see his feather raised in the air and waving about wildly.

"No Cole, you are not learning a new technique today. We don't have the time," he says, shooting down Cole before he can even ask the question.

I look at Snizzy and see him looking intently at me with a raised brow.

Feeling uncomfortable, and glancing away, I slowly raise my left hand. I don't have a question to ask - at least, not one that Snizzy wouldn't qualify as stupid - but it seems as though a question is expected of me.

"Snivy?" he questions curtly, nodding my way.

I swallow a lump I hadn't realized formed in my throat, before opening my mouth to say something. Unprepared, and uncomfortable, I just let a mess of words tumble out of my mouth.

"I, um… S-so we're, um, we're - what are we going to start with. For today, um… Snizzy… ?"

I close my mouth and blush, forming a tight line with my lips.

What an absolute mess of a question. I shouldn't have said anything at all. This is why I do not speak if I have nothing of value to say. It just comes out as this garbled mess of nonsense and idiocy.

"Ah, he speaks," Snizzy says. His smirk slowly morphs into a sharp, toothy grin.

"Let me answer in a… demonstratory fashion," he nearly growls out, claws unsheathing.

Uh-oh.


	8. Chapter 7 - Keep Goin'

Chapter 7 - Keep On Goin'

* * *

Snizzy braces his feet against the ground, and with a claw by his side, pushes off the gr-

I am hit, square in the face, with the blunt end of a Sneasel's claw. I am sent staggering backwards, clutching my large nose and feeling somewhat dazed.

With a bleeding nose, I shake my head quickly in an attempt to recover, and look up to see Snizzy looking at me in a concerning fashion. His glaring red eyes rattle me to the bone, and a sense of impending doom overcomes me.

Escape suddenly feels impossible, and I feel an emotional miasma of terror cloud my judgement.

In spite of the fear slowly encroaching upon my heart, I feel as though Snizzy would not accept a simple surrender. Perhaps I'm being foolish, but if this is a form of evaluation, then I cannot afford to disappoint.

On a gut feeling, I jump to the left just in time to see Snizzy's claw pierce the area where my head would have been had I not moved.

Is he trying to spar with me or assassinate me!?

I spin around on a whim, hoping to catch him approaching aggressively again. Ideally, my tail would slam into the side of his head, which would hopefully give me time to think of a strategy to at least not get skewered.

When I feel my tail collide with a skull, I don't even look back. I immediately run to put distance between me and Snizzy.

Okay, let's think about this. Snizzy is clearly trying to harm me physically. I do not have any items or objects on or near me to help me in my battle against him. There are no rocks, no spikes or large sticks. All I have around me are trees, mushrooms, shrubs and…

Wait a minute… there are trees around…

Suddenly, I see a streak of purple directly in front of me. A glowing black claw strikes the ground with a Night Slash, a visible black tear in the air mending behind it. Dirt is kicked up, and I see one of Snizzy's red eyes leer at me from his position.

Now, I know Snizzy expects me to run away. I've run after the previous attack he's done. While there isn't much else I can do, maybe I can bait him into striking one of the trees?

In spite of my tremoring heart, and in spite of my trepidation, I stare Snizzy down.

Time stands still for a moment as Snizzy's burning scarlet eyes meet mine. My palms become sweaty, my breathing uneven, and I take a single step back.

Snizzy pulls his claw out of the ground, and immediately goes for close quarters strikes. First he aims for my head, then my torso, my torso again, and then the cycle begins again. There's a pattern.

I'm barely able to dodge all of the strikes, and I feel cuts form on my arms, body, and face as I retreat further and further. The dull throbbing sting from each cut is exacerbated by my sweat.

I keep facing Snizzy, but I know that I'll soon be out of ring.

Feeling a slight change in elevation behind me, I suddenly hop to the right as Snizzy goes for another strike to my head. He barely reacts, though his claw nearly penetrates a tree in front of him. He stops short, but just barely.

My heart pounds in my ears as I run across the clearing. I can feel myself tiring, my breath becoming more laboured and my muscles becoming more taxed. It strikes me that this is going to end very badly for me if I can't make something happen, both because I lack the stamina to see it to the end, and also because Snizzy clearly outclasses me.

I immediately look to the ground. I need to find a mushroom, a rock, some way of ending this battle early before I get seriously injured!

Suddenly, I feel a pressure around my neck, bef-

*Gluck!*

While I was trying to keep my distance and think of a solution to my problem, Snizzy must have waited for an opportunity to strike. I hadn't been paying enough attention, and now the fabric around my neck is being pulled taut.

I am overcome by my inability to breathe. My nose and mouth both attempt to suck in air - even the smallest morsel - to no avail.

I feel a gaping emptiness in my lungs, as they burn through whatever oxygen had been in them. They feel dark, hollow, and hot.

As I struggle and claw at the scarf around my neck, I can hear Snizzy speak behind me.

"You're techniques need work. They're serviceable, but you sorely need training and guidance. While you do have some inclination for evasion, you're execution leaves much to be desired. Even when I fully telegraphed my attacks, you had trouble," Snizzy says calmly while I choke.

Snizzy let's go of the ends of my scarf, and I fall to the ground coughing. I tear at the fabric around my neck, whipping it off as quickly as I can whilst I get up shakily on my hands and knees.

"Furthermore, while you do seem to be thinking through all your actions - reading my approach with a Slam, and attempting to stick my claw with the trees - you lack the physical prowess to fully take advantage of your intellect," Snizzy finishes as he enters into my view, arms crossed and face inscrutable.

I see Snizzy look me up and down as I clear my throat from the ground. My hands and knees can feel the soil in their cuts, the salty earth enhancing the stinging in my limbs as my throat aches from compression.

"Although… that you attempted to use the terrain itself as an asset in combat is a certain level of clever. I may have caught on, but I'd be lying if I said I expected it," Snizzy states as he walks closer.

I see Snizzy put a finger to his chin in thought as he examines me. I look away to the dirt beneath me with a hot face and negative emotions.

"I see potential," he says simply. "We'll have you here training for a week. Maybe two. That should whip you into shape - at least enough to go on lower-level missions."

I hear the shifting of feet in front of me as Snizzy turns to someone - presumably, Cole.

"Cole, bring the Snivy some Oran berries. We still have training to do, and the quicker they recover, the better," Snizzy calls out.

From my left, I hear a "Yessir!" and the scampering of talons.

I slowly get myself into a sitting position and examine my own body.

All along my arms, and on my torso, are dozens of small cuts in my scales.

It suddenly strikes me that I have scales, and not skin. I have scales, like a snake, because I am one. Each scale is a smooth, shiny green, occasionally broken by thin red lines which bleed in very small amounts. I can't help but trace the diamond patterned scales with my eyes - and eventually finger - even as I'm irritated by each slit.

The scales are smooth, and subtly… well, I don't want to say oily, but there's a certain film to it. The smoothness sticks to my fingers in a very strange way. I'm genuinely unsure as to how I would describe the sensation, but I at least don't find it unpleasant.

I also realize that, aside from the pleasant view of my scales, my body looks somewhat worse for wear. Not only am I covered in dirt and cuts, but I'm very thin for a Snivy. I wouldn't call it unhealthy, but I am rather scrawny. Not to mention, a little pale.

To be blunt with myself, I look like I either don't get out much, or am somewhat weak.

At least one of which has been confirmed.

I hear the scratch of talons against dirt to my left as I finish my self-examination.

"Hey dude, I got some Oran berries here. Y'alright?" I hear Cole ask as he approaches.

I glance over at Cole, and find him balancing two Oran berries on his head. He looks vaguely concerned for me, though to what extent I'm not entirely sure.

I reach out to grab one of the berries, and come to regret that as the cut scales of my arms slide against each other and stab inwards. Without the draining excitement of battle to distract me, the sensation stings to a much greater extent, and I flinch.

I see Cole wince, and he says, "Ooo, yeah, sorry dude. Don't wanna move too much, y'know."

He gently rolls the berries off of his head, where they land on his feathers and are gently lowered to the floor.

"D'ja know anything about berries? I mean, y'know, like on a medicinal level," he asks me. I shake my head in response, and examine the berries.

Both berries are a deep, rich blue. They superficially resemble blue berries, in that they're round, blue, and yes, berries. What strikes me as strange is just how large they are, though. Both of them are easily as large as a fist, and are speckled with fleks of a darker hue.

"Here, you're gonna wanna eat one of these. They act like a painkiller when you eat 'em raw - and they fill you up, too," Cole says, gesturing to one of the berries.

I gingerly grab one of them, and hold it up to my face. The skin is smooth, and upon closer examination, the berry is subtly lumpy and uneven. The smell reminds me of… mint? No, no, it's almost… alpine?

I raise my eyebrow at the enigmatic berry, before resigning myself to my fate and popping it into my mouth.

Texturally, the comparison to blue berries is quite apt. It has that satisfying mix of juice and flesh that, to me, makes blue berries enjoyable.

The flavour, on the other hand?

It is… puzzling, to say the least.

It's a strange, bizarre flavour, the likes of which I can't say I've ever experienced. There's the initial chew, which I would compare to a firecracker going off in your mouth. Just, the spice and sour tang of the juice, followed immediately by a puckering bitterness from the flesh, and finally a dry sweetness as I swallow it down.

I see Cole take a single look at my face, before he chuckles and says, "Heh, yeah, I know. Oran berries taste weird, uncooked, dude, I get it."

"Now check this out," Cole says, before running his feather along my arm.

I immediately jerk my arm away. His touch does not elicit physical pain from me, but I find the act of being touched at all to be deeply uncomfortable. I briefly felt every cell in my body scream in displeasure at being touched; my reaction leaving us both a little shocked.

"Woah! Sorry! Didn't mean to hurt you, 'mon. Did it not work?" Cole asks with a tilt of his head and a puzzled facial expression.

Running a finger of my own down my arm, I notice that the dull throbbing sting of all these little cuts has essentially dulled into nothing. Only upon applying pressure do I feel even the smallest tinge of pain.

Both amazed by the fast acting properties of the berry, and confused by my extreme reaction to Cole's touch, I say, "No, no, it doesn't hurt. I, um, well, I don't… I lik- don't like being touched."

I look away and down at the floor as embarrassment flushes my face.

"Hey now, no reason to get all weird, dude," Cole tells me in a softer tone of voice. "Heck, now I know - don't touch the snake boi!"

I look at him again, only to find a reassuring smile.

I can't help but give a small little smile of my own.

"Alright, now watch," Cole says, whilst gesturing to the remaining berry. I pay close attention to Cole, expecting important information.

"Eating an Oran berry acts like a painkiller. Problem is, that doesn't stop you bleeding - it just makes you not feel it, y'know?" he states.

Before I can fully process his actions, Cole takes the single berry in his right talon, and hops closer to me on the other. Then, with little fanfare, he crushes it and allows the juice to drip out and onto me.

"Buuut if you just apply the juice to the wound, it heals up real quick," Cole says with a wink and a nod.

I stare in awe and fascination as the cuts on my body slowly close, severed scales reconnecting as though never having been injured. Within moments, I look good as new.

My jaw goes slack and my eyes wide.

Wow.

This is amazing! Such efficacy from a simple berry! Utility, versatility, vitality - all rolled into a small fruit.

I've never seen anything like this. I've never heard of a medicine that works so well! Not over the counter, not prescription, not anything!

"Yeah, I know, pretty cool, huh?" Cole asks eagerly.

I nod quickly. "It's amazing! Did, uh… did Snizzy show you this stuff?"

Cole visibly deflates, just a little. I'm taken off guard by this, but before I can say anything, he seemingly bounces back instantly. Huh.

"Uh… no, Snizzy didn't show me this. I learned it a long time ago. Y'know," he says, before looking away.

Then, from behind the two of us, we here someone clear their throat.

Turning around, I find myself faced with a frowning Sneasel.

I gulp.

* * *

So after Arthur and I got done with his little lesson in medicine, Snizzy got all up on us with his training routine.

Honestly, it was kinda light for today. Not super easy, y'know, I still have to work to pull myself up a tree branch with my beak, or whatever else. We'd just do some stuff for like fifteen minutes, maybe a half hour, n' that's it.

Now, for me? This is small kee's, y'know? I've been doing this stuff for a month - 'course I'm good at it!

But Arthur? Well…

Y'know, I kinda feel bad for Arthur.

Like, he's alright. He's not too shabby for some untrained rando. He's shy, quiet, really weird - the misfit's trifecta!

And then Snizzy just decks him right in the shnozzy.

And like, I get it, too! It's supposed to be like this whole test thing where he's, like, seeing how you deal with being taken off guard, seeing if you can make reads, the whole thing. Heck, he did the same thing to me!

But with Arthur it's kinda weird, 'cause he's like this anxious little guy.

Even if he's taller than me.

I pass by The Snizz™ on my fourth lap around the clearing. I look over to where I think Arthur is, only to find him huffing n' puffing n' running all slow.

See, like, it feels weird training with Arthur 'cause he's so… I dunno, is unassuming the word?

He looks kinda frail. Y'know, slim, tired, nervous - he doesn't seem like rescuer material, if you catch my drift.

And yet, here we are.

I finish my fifth lap - the last one - and jog over to Arthur. He's kinda struggling, and I figure I may as well encourage him.

"Hey dude, you doin' alright?" I ask him, with my patented head tilt.

He looks back at me, sweaty, panting, and looking none too happy. He opens his mouth and says, "N-no. I'm not. This is torture."

"Aw, c'mon, 'mon, you got this! Just hang in there, you'll be done in a few minutes," I say, trying to be encouraging. "Keep goin', you got this!"

I give him a feather's up and my best grin.

He just kinda sighs and nods, before slowly jogging his fourth lap.

I just walk closer to the middle of the clearing, before taking a seat. As long as I'm done, I might as well chill out, right?

And speaking of 'chill,' I glance over at Snizzy.

He's leaning back against one of the trees, right next to the oran bush we came in. He's got his scowl, his crossed arms, and his air of discipline.

Snizzy's kinda weird too. Not, like, Arthur weird - weird in his own way.

I remember when I first found the guy, he was doing all these crazy moves and stunts out here in this clearing. He was slicing logs, n' breaking logs, and… logs.

He was really going at it, y'know?

At first I just kinda watched him, 'cause I'd never seen a pokemon move so dang fast!

And he didn't stop, either. He just. Kept. Going.

I mean, I think *I* felt sore when he was done training.

Then, y'know, he notices me, one thing leads to ano-

Suddenly, a sweaty, green reptile flops down onto the ground next to me. They're panting, they're laying on the dirt - they're Arthur.

I look over at the grassy boi, and I see him kinda opening and closing his mouth like he wants to talk. I figure that I better help the guy out, so I start the conversation for him.

"Jeez, 'mon, you alright?" I ask.

Arthur looks at me, bags under his eyes, and he says, "No."

I smirk at this, and reply, "C'mon, 'mon, it ain't that bad. It was only four laps, y'know."

Arthur lies back onto the dirt. His eyes focus somewhere in the sky, before he says, "Four ra- laps of hell, maybe."

I start putting together a super funny retort in my head, but Arthur's reply registers as weird. After a second of thought, I realize what it is, too.

What the heck is hell?

"What the heck is hell?" I ask, head tilted and eyebrow raised.

Arthur looks at me confusedly. His face scrunches up a bit, and he says, "Um, h-hell? The place where, uh… if I - someone is bad, and they… die, then… they go there…"

What?

"What?" I say.

Arthur just says, "I… nevermind," before turning away with a red face.

Huh.

Is Arthur from, like, a cult or something?

I mean, I guess that 'Hell' kinda sounds like the distortion world, but… y'know, the distortion world is just for all the non-Arciens, right? Like, it's not really bad bad, y'know? You can be an awesome 'mon and still end up there, or you could be terrible, 'n you'll still keep ending up there until you accept Arceus, or… something…

Look, I wasn't paying attention to those lessons, okay? I never said I was a good Arcien.

Either way, I've never heard of 'Hell' before. I don't think it's Dialgan or Palkian; I'm pretty sure they believe in the distortion world too, right?

Looking over at the enigma given grass snake form, I see him twiddling some pebbles between his fingers. He's just staring at them, with his face still all red.

"You don't have to be embarrased, y'know," I say to Arthur delicately.

His eyes look at me from the ground, and I decide to continue. "Lots of 'mon believe in weird stuff. Heck, if I'd thought about it, I'da figured you'd be an Arcien like me - you got a name, after all, even if it's pretty weird."

Arthur looks at me with a confused expression, pebbles falling to the ground. He says, "My name… ?"

"Yeah, y'know," I start. "Cause like, most 'mons who have names are Arciens, and name's have a kinda theme to 'em. My mom's name is Flaire, my old instructor was named Cindo - like, fire stuff!"

I make a sorta flappy gesture at Arthur with my feathers, and I say, "You though? I mean, Arthur's just kinda weird."

Arthur let's out a soft, "Oh…" before looking back up at the sky. He doesn't say anything after that.

Y'know, I wonder about this guy.

The worst part is that the cult thing might actually be a legit explanation.

I mean, okay, he's thin, anxious, got bags under his eyes, and he doesn't really now about stuff. Weird stuff, that's weird to not know.

But if he were like, I dunno, raised in a cult? I mean, that'd make sense. Cults suck! And they mess with your head.

So it'd make sense why Arthur'd be like this! He's all, like, cultivated!

…

Okay, so what if that's the wrong word? Look, I'm just saying - or I guess thinking! Like, if he lived all isolated raised by a cult… ?

Jeez, I think I might actually be on to something here! I should talk to Snizzy about this!

Suddenly, I hear a clearing throat from above us, and I look up to see Snizzy's frowning face looking down at me.

"That's enough sitting around," he says sternly, walking around the two of us to stand in front.

I shift and get to my talons, and I hear Arthur do much the same thing to my side.

Snizzy's piercing red eyes have the two of us standing at attention. With a small huff, he crosses his arms and says, "That's our training for today. Now, we have business."

The Snizzmeister looks at me specifically, and says, "Cole, you and I will go into town, gather supplies as necessary, and select our task or tasks for the day."

After this, Snizzy turns to Arthur, who I notice shrinks away a little, before he adds, "As for you, Snivy? You will stay here. Do not fiddle with things that are not yours. Do not attempt to wander the forest for any length of time."

Snizzy's eyes suddenly harden into a deadly mean look, and I'm super glad he's looking at Arthur and not me. "If you touch anything of mine, well… that'd be ill-advised."

Snizo drops the mean look, and finishes his little thing here with, "Now, go get your broom and do what you're supposed to, little snake."

Finally, Snizzy turns around, and gestures with his hand, "Cole, come," before walking forward and through the Oran berry bush.

I turn to Arthur, and I notice he's looking a little anxious again. I put on a little tiny smile and say, "See ya soon, Arthur. We'll be back lickity split, don't you worry!"

Arthur's eyes focus on me, and he nods. With a little smile of his own, he softly replies, "Y-yeah. See you when you get back."

With that, I turn and hurry off to catch up with Snizzy, passing through the berry bush, through the woods, and eventually ending up back at the house with the Snizzster.

I'm handed the Rescue Bag™, and with pretty much no words spoken, we're off!

Into town we go! 


	9. Chapter 8 - Good Morning, Good Morning

Chapter 8 - Good Morning, Good Morning

* * *

I always thought it was kinda cool that Snizzy lived all the way out here in the forest.

Like, if you think about it, it's kinda smart, right? If you wanna train in town, then you gotta go to the Dojo with everyone else - and Snizzy's alot of things, but a poke's 'mon he ain't.

So, I get it. It suits this guy, and he's the boss, so it's fine. It helps his image, being this broody hermit-boi.

To be honest, though, the walk from Snizzy's place to Brownsville is usually pretty boring. As much as I like the woods, going down this straight road with no turns for half an hour is just super tedious.

Most of the time.

But today's a bit different, y'know.

So here I am, walking with Snizzy, side by side. We're walking down this big ol' dirt road, well worn n' wide, with gradually thinning trees as we go along.

I'm not quite sure _how_ exactly to explain my little theory to Snizzy. Like, can you really just bust out with, 'Oh hey, real quick, pretty sure Arthur's from a cult, by the by,' when you're just tryna get to town?

I dunno, 'mon, feels kinda weird I guess. Just, maybe if I got Snizzy talking I could kinda steer it down the culty route... ?

All that we hear is the _'tak tak tak'_ of my talons on the ground.

Welp, y'never know until you try.

"So Snizzy…" I start, stepping over a large rock in the road.

Snizzy's head turns to me, and he answers with a, "Hm?"

"What do you think of Arthur, dude?" I ask, trying to stay casual.

Snizzy goes quiet for a moment and puts his hand to his chin in thought. After the moment passes, he says, "He is quiet, obedient, and unobtrusive. He is not as combat oriented as I would like, but I can fix that. I have no further issues thus far."

Then Snizzy looks at me with a raised eyebrow and asks, "Why?"

I suck in a big gulp of air, and steal myself for this unloading of hot, sticky theory directly onto Snizzy's face.

"Well, y'know, I was thinking about the guy, right? I was thinking about him, and I thought, 'mon, this guy sure is weird, not knowing so much basic stuff.' So…" I begin, before running around to the front of Snizzy.

While walking backwards, I continue my thought. "… I tried to put it all together, y'know? I thought about it, and I thought real hard - and when I put everything together, like him not knowing about TMs, or basic dungeon stuff; him getting all super anxious around you when he wasn't that level of freak-outy before before."

I make a big sweeping gesture with my feathers, before finishing with, "It all came together just right when he mentioned this place called hell, where he told me it was like where bad 'mon go when they die to get punished, and I was like 'Ah-HA-"

I trip over a rock as I'm walking backwards, taking a tumble and hitting the ground with the back of my head. Yet, in spite of my massive crash, I still see my shpiel through to the end.

"… Arthur must be from a cult!" I exclaim with a strong sense of finality.

There's a moment of silence as I lay on my back. Snizzy steps up and looks down at me, his face silhouetted. I stare at him, he stares at me.

"Cole," he begins.

"That's dumb."

I hop up from my spot on the ground to defend my case.

"No dude, I'm being serious - this is totally legit!" I say, flapping my feathers to emphasize how super cereal I'm being.

We continue walking as the trees finally clear out, and Brownsville comes into view. Beige buildings, beige dirt road, probably beige 'mon as well. If I had to guess, I'd say just another ten minutes until we get there.

While we walk, I keep trying to convince Snizzy. "Like, c'mon 'mon, I know you know Arthurs a massive weirdo! What oth-"

"Cole," Snizzy says sternly, interrupting me.

"Huh?" I respond dumbly.

Snizzy looks at me really hard, and slowly asks me, "How long have you known this individual?"

I tilt my head and think about it for a sec. After a moment, I answer with, "Like a day, I guess."

"Okay, you have known this 'mon for _a single day_," Snizzy says simply. "Do you think that _perhaps_ trying to pick him apart and figure out information he _does not want to tell you_ right now might not be the… as you would say, _coolest_ thing to do?"

At first, I'm surprised, but I recover quickly enough to defend myself. I stop in the road, and say, "But he's so quiet, 'mon!"

"And?" Snizzle responds with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.

"And he's all weird and nervous!" I reply with ruffled feathers.

"And?" I hear again.

"And like… he never says anything, 'mon! He won't tell me anything about him!" I finally exclaim.

Snizzy shakes head, pinching the bridge of his nose with his right hand. "Listen to me - he is not obligated to tell you _anything_. If he doesn't want you to know something about himself, you must respect his desire for privacy and move on."

"But dude, what if it's like important or something? Ya never know!" I counter, getting a little worked up over this argument.

Snizzy just sighs and looks at me with a frustrated look, before saying, "Cole, I am going to be frank with you - drop it. This is blatant disrespect to the 'mons privacy, and to be blunt, we've already had this conversation two weeks ago."

I start opening my beak to defend myself, but as Snizzy's words register I let my head feathers go limp. The excitement riling up in me leaves as Snizzy reminds me about the other time this happened.

I'd been digging around in his stuff, trying to figure out what his deal was. I'd picked up a thing or two, just listening to him talk about his 'First team.'

I still remember how… just, angry Snizzy was when he found out. He said, 'This is blatant disrespect to my privacy!' and we got into this whole big argument about privacy and… well, y'know, it kinda stings to get slapped with the same words twice.

There's a quiet moment of tension. For a sec, I'm not really sure what to do, so I just quietly say, "Okay… you're right. I should know better."

I see Snizzy nod his head briefly as the tension in the air settles.

I can hear the sounds of busy 'mon not too far off as we stand only five minutes away from the town. If it weren't for this whole thing with me and Snizzy, I'd be happy to hear it.

Now I'm just kinda relieved.

Snizzy turns to the road ahead, and I follow him as we walk into town

* * *

Grasping the rough wooden handle in my hands, I pull the broom inwards, dragging a steadily growing pile of dust towards me.

As soon as Cole and Snizzy left, I made my way through the forest path to the house. The walk had given me time to adjust to my environment, and by the time I reached the house, a steady calm had fallen upon me.

As it stands, I'm sweeping the floor of our shared home.

Taking inspiration from Snizzy's creative use of his ingredient box's lid, I've emptied the carrying case for my TM and have begun using it as a makeshift dustpan of sorts. It's surprisingly effective - though I must note that it is difficult to get the dust over the lip of the case.

On the stone table is my Training Manual with the marble-like orbs and scratched pieces of miscellaneous crystalline paraphernalia that were included with it.

While I hadn't payed much mind to the contents of the case beyond the manual therein when I initially got it, I must confess that a strong curiosity towards the crystal bits and bobs has formed in me.

I carefully use the broom to navigate the dust into the TM case, and with a bit of finagling - as well as a bit of patience - I get it in there.

With a pleasant calm in my mind, I pick up the case in my left hand, and carry it to a nearby open window. I stick the case outside the window, and dump the dust to meet its brethren from earlier.

As I take the case back inside and place it on the floor, I feel a small smile form on my face.

In spite of the menial nature of this task, I find it quite… soothing. The repetitive motions lend a certain appealing rhythm to the whole affair, and that's only enhanced by the pleasent buzz of taking care of something.

Still, as I set back to work on my task, I glance again to the table in the center of the room.

After a moment of staring at the pile of objects, I cannot resist the urge to examine them. The intrigue in that pile is simply too great, so I gently put down the broom in order to examine the Training Manual and associated objects.

Upon walking up to the table, I decide to examine the manual first, as it is probably the most important part.

Grasping it, I feel the wiry fabric that makes up the scroll. It reminds me vaguely of papyrus, with the fibrous sheet feeling textured in an almost cross-hatched pattern. It is somewhat satisfying to feel.

Then, I open the scroll and look inside.

The first thing I notice are… drawings? Yes, what looks to be artistic representations of the steps necessary to perform whatever technique it is that this manual was created for.

Surrounding these drawings are what I assume are instructions in a script I only partially recognize. The basic elements of the design I recognize, but everything looks distorted somehow. The letters are exclusively capitalized, and are peppered with large circular gaps - almost like eyes - which make the presumed instructions difficult to read.

At the very top of the scroll, in massive bold letters, is the title, _'TRAINING MANUAL 1F - SECRET POWER.'_

Secret Power, you say? This, even more than the bizarre script it was written in, intrigues me.

I don't know if it's a good idea to study this scroll or not, but considering that Cole said that these can teach me combat techniques to improve my battling - and good at battling I am not - then I suppose it can't really hurt.

The extra bits and baubles on the table are quickly forgotten as I study the scroll in earnest, or at least attempt to.

The scroll starts with a large paragraph. Squinting my eyes, it takes me longer than I'd like to admit to read it - the letters just look so bizarre!

_ 'Of the many moves mentioned by those who practice the fine art of combat, there are few more enigmatic and volatile than Secret Power. Where Hidden Power seeks to unleash the underlying energy behind a 'mon's very essence, Secret Power seeks to unleash the underlying energy behind a 'mon's environment.'_

Fascinating!

Alright, so if I understand this correctly, this technique will allow me to tap into my surroundings in order to… draw power? Okay, perhaps I don't understand the theory yet, but that's only the first paragraph!

What else does the scroll say?  
_  
'Secret Power is a technique that anyone can learn, provided they put in the time and energy. It is not limited by the constraints of one's individual pool of power, nor by physical considerations of the body. It knows no limits, in this regard, as to who or what use it. So long as one exists in harmony with the environment around them, one shall find themselves perfectly capable of performing this technique at a competent level.'_

So even someone as untalented as me can learn this technique effectively? That's… this really is exactly what I've needed all along!

All of this that I've read up to this point has been at the beginning of the scroll. This has been very fascinating and inspiring, but now that opening section of the scroll has finished.

Looking down, I find the very first step to perform the move, and continue my reading.

_ 'Before one can properly perform this technique, it is of utmost importance for the individual student to find in themselves an inner peace - a sense of connection, linking the feelings of relaxation and contentment to one's surroundings. Without this, Secret Power will allude the student.'  
_  
This is accompanied by a picture of an implacably generic 'mon sitting cross legged. The drawing is somewhat crude, but it does convey the relaxed posture of the 'mon quite well.

_ 'One can achieve this state through a number of means, though what proves the most effective will be different from 'mon to 'mon. For some, the key may be meditation, deep contemplation, and utter stillness. For others, a more active approach of exploration - getting lost in one's environment - is the key. What you must do to find your peace is up to you, and you likely have an idea as to what style best suits you individually.'_

I see.

So, in order to tap into this Secret Power technique, I have to find an 'inner peace'.

Learning this move may be a bit harder than I initially anticipated, but if nothing else, it does give me a fair bit of leeway. After all, there isn't a hard and fast rule as to how I find this 'inner peace' - finding it at all is that's required.

I quickly reread the introductory paragraphs of the Training Manual, as well as the first step, before I put it back on the table.

I can't say that I've experienced a great amount of calm in the time that I've been here, but I can say that the act of maintaining this home has offered me a level of contentment I was not experiencing otherwise. Perhaps I can use the sweeping of this house as the catalyst for this Secret Power?

I take up the broom once again, feeling the hard wood in my hands as I begin to sweep whatever I had missed up into a little pile of dust.

I allow the rhythm of the task to take me, counting two sweeps left, then two sweeps right. The central mound of the pile grows higher as the pile itself grows narrower. Once I've achieved a satisfactory shape, I carefully sweep the dust into the TM case, before taking said case, dumping out the dust, and beginning the cycle anew.

I hardly notice as time passes, absorbed in my task and experiencing a peaceful stillness of mind. It is only when I realize that there is no dust left to sweep that the spell is broken, and I realize that I've achieved exactly what the TM advises.

A peculiar, housework-induced inner peace.

With a calm mind, I put down my cleaning instruments and quickly make my way over to the table. There, I pick up the TM, and continue my study…

* * *

Snizzy's finger taps his chin in thought as he looks at the big ol' public cork board in the middle of town. His eyes are all scanning everything so intently, reading everything so carefully, and y'know? I gotta say… he looks pretty intense.

So here I am with the Big Snizz, hanging out at the board. There's all kinds of notices, n' announcements, n' like adverts - official stuff, basically - and they got it all posted right here in the middle of town on a big giant cork board.

Gotta admit, it's pretty convenient.

I turn away from watching Snizzy's super intense selection, and start watching the 'mon pass us by.

I feel the cold breeze on my face as all these 'mon walk down the beige street, surrounded by these beige little buildings. It's not super busy today, but its like eight or whatever, so there are still folks getting their morning shopping done.

It's always nice watching all these other 'mon going here n' there. You never really know what they're up to, you just know they're up to it, and it's pretty interesting!

Like, you'll see this dude walking down the road with this littler dude next to him, and you're like 'Woah, is that his kid? Maybe it's someone else's kid! Maybe he's like an uncle, or maybe it's some crazy sneaky kidnapping stuff!'

And then the next thing you know, they're gone.

Y'know, it's like, if there's _one_ thing I gotta give Burnie and all those other jackasses credit for, it's showing me that there are all kinds of interesting stories in the 'mons you don't usually care about. I mean, hey, I used to be that 'mon no one cares about, and look at me now!

Like a couple people care about me now! Sweet!

I just wish, y'know, they spruced things up a bit around here. Maybe put a little color somewhere, right? Maybe some green, or some red - I don't know 'mon. You got all these interesting 'mon out and about in the town, going everywhere, but you have them in the most dull looking town since… well, I don't since when, but probably since a long time!

Hey, folks as cool and interesting as these ones deserve a town with a bit more pizazz, that's all I'm saying!

Like, I know the council's gotta approve stuff for the town, but they've gotta be able to think of better colors, right? How are you gonna represent all these different kinds of 'mon woth *beige*?

I mean, look, you got some _grass_ bois, n' some _bug_ bois, and… you got some _grass_ bois…

Okay, maybe it isn't super diverse, but I mean, whatever! It doesn't have to be for these 'mon to deserve -

Oh hey, a Riolu! Neat!

Suddenly, in the middle of my 'mon moniter… ing - whatever - I hear a growl from my right side.

Looking over, I see Snizzy. He's growling at… the cork board?

I inch a little closer, and do a nice big hop to try and see what it is that's got Snizzy all pissed off.

At first, I don't really get what's got him so mad. There's not anything out of the ordinary - missions, advertisements, posters…

And then I see it - a big colorful poster. It's all blue, red, and white, and it's got the words _'TEAM APEX'_ written across the top in big bold letters. Right underneath are two portriats of 'mon, a Jigglypuff and a Cyndaquil.

I don't get to see much more of it on the board, as Snizzy tears it off the board, crumples it up, and throws it on the ground. Without a word, he grabs a random mission off the board, and storms off.

That… that certainly happened.

I pick up the crumpled up poster and stick it in the rescue bag. I probably can't ask Snizzy directly what's up, but I could probably get a clue or two out of this poster, y'know?

Looking up, I see Snizzy slowly disappearing down the street.

"Hey Snizzy, wait up, dude!" I say as I go running down the street after him.

Jeez, 'mon.


	10. Chapter 9 - Who Are You?

Chapter 9 - Who Are You?

* * *

I feel my elbows rubbing against the streaked stone table as I once again read the Training Manual, now completing my fourth run through.

The points at which I've rested my elbows have long since lost their cool as the table absorbs my body heat. While I don't have a clock by which to tell time - and I'm equally lacking in the ability to judge from the sunlight - I feel as though I can safely say that I've spent at least forty-five minutes reading this manual, if not an hour.

I set the scroll down and review the steps necessary to unlock Secret Power's potential

Inner peace - check.

Let's see, now I have to firmly plant my hands and feet on the ground…

… okay, check.

I lower my head and close my eyes. According to the manual, step three requires me to focus on this nebulous feeling deep inside myself. I'm supposed to envision some sort of golden light - a mist which-

Woah!

I am suddenly hit with a large burst of sensory information - colours and sights too intense for me to process in the moment. Immediately, I find myself entirely discombobulated and disoriented.

I get up and open my eyes, blinking rapidly for a moment. My concentration was broken by my own surprise.

I feel my heart beating in my chest, an excitement arising in me that I hadn't even been aware I was experiencing. My breathing becomes ever so slightly heavier, and my head is alight with the images that I can hardly believe I'd seen

In envisioning this golden mist, I found myself confronted with a view that I can still only barely parse.

The centre of my chest had been a pulsing cobalt glow, shining out from my heart. From this iridescent core dangled a single silver string, disconnected from anything but myself.

The room itself was coated in a subtle layer of technicolour motion. Tiny points, too small to see individually, were moving in synchronicity all around me in every colour of the rainbow. I myself was covered in this same layer, though not quite to the same extent.

Just attempting to grasp the images themselves - let alone their significance - leaves my head swimming. I've not yet encountered anything like this, but if I found Mystery Dungeons to be bizarre, then this is something that fits right alongside it on the non-literal shelf of strangeness.

I rub the bridge of my snout with my right hand. My left hand reaches to grasp my scarf, only for me to realize that I do not have my scarf.

This finally gives me the motivation I need to reorient myself, and I do so quickly. The table in front of me, the banner to my back, beds and shelf on either side of me - it all is as it should be. Everything is, in fact, except for one thing:

My scarf.

I honestly can't believe I forgot about it. Was I really so caught up in sweeping of all things? To such an extent that I would forget the single most comfortable piece of elongated neck-cloth imaginable?

Although…

I rub my neck, near where I apparently still retain my Adam's apple. Snizzy's choking move was most definitely one of the worst things I've experienced in my time here. It pains me to admit this, but perhaps I should cut the scarf down to a less exploitable size.

Something about the idea makes me feel uneasy, but I know it must be done. I never want to experience the sensation of being unable to breathe again.

Thinking back, I recall that the last time I had the scarf, I had taken it off and left it at the training area. The training area is behind the house, slightly to the left, and a fairly straight walk along a path from there. Thus, this should be a fairly simple task.

With this in mind, I walk across the cold wooden floor to the front door of the house, the little pit-patter of my feet the only thing audible.

Opening the door, I step outside into the cool afternoon air

* * *

Y'know, they say that if you wanna melt ice, you don't use fire - you use salt.

I've heard alot of explanations for it. Some 'mon have told me that it's about problem solving, other 'mon have told me that it's about making smart decisions. I dunno, it's a weird saying.

Either way, all I know is that I'm surprised Snizzy hasn't melted yet - 'cause he's pretty dang salty for an Ice type!

Though, walking down the street next to him, I gotta admit - a little uncomfortable. It's like walking with one of my old teachers, and the salt pun's fun, but this walk ain't none, son.

He's projecting this air of 'Don't talk to me,'-ness. His face is all screwed up in this harsh scowl, and his hands are clenched into fists as he power walks down the road.

As we walk, we end up passing by some market stalls. Most of them are wooden, with these big ol' colored tarps up top. All of 'em have some 'mon or 'mons selling all sortsa stuff.

Every time we pass one by, I can see the owner's opening their mouths to try and sell stuff to Snizzy, and I keep having to shake my head and wave my feathers around so they get the message to leave my boi alone.

It's not my favorite thing in the world. Especially 'cause I know some of these guys - while most of 'em get it, every now and again one of these market 'mon will end up looking all put out, and then I feel like a jerk.

I made a _Furret_ look _sad!_ Feels bad, 'mon.

I'm just hoping we find Ivan or Ivey soon. I just wanna buy our supplies and get outta here before Snizzy goes off on somebody.

We pass by all sorts of bug and grass 'mon as Snizzy lightly stomps his way through the Brownsville marketplace.

Honestly if we weren't both so short, I'd be worried about him accidentally stepping on someone - not that he hasn't come close, but it's pretty hard to miss the angry ice type thumping down the street with the little orange bird boi.

As we make our way past vendors and beige adobe buildings, I see _it_.

_It_ is something sweet. _It_ is something totally hype.

_ It_ is something colored all aquamarine n' yellow, with a big ol' sign up front and a big ol' tarp covering the whole thing.

It's Ivey & Ivan's TMs & Items - your one stop shop for all your dungeon and dungeoneering accessories!

I hear Snizzy grunt, and I know he's seen it too. I gulp when I hear that, 'cause I don't known if I want a pissed off Snizzster doing the talking at the only good dungeoneering store in town.

We walk towards the stand, and towards the stand's sign with the logo and a little cartoon picture of two blue-ish Snivys. We end up standing just across from it, and there's no vendor.

Alright. So. Snizzy's mad. He's real mad, actually. He looked at that poster, got all bent out, and now he's mad.

I can't just let Snizzy walk over there all angry like. If something sets him off… geez 'mon, I don't even *want* to know. Not gonna end well, I can say that much.

So what're we gonna do about this… ?

…

Oh!

I got it!

I look up at Snizzy and say, "Hey, uh…"

"_What?_" Snizzy replies all terse, with a major case of the scowls.

Oof. This is gonna be a tricky one, huh?

I tilt my head at him as I say, "You, uh… you gonna be good to go in there, dude? You seem a littl- "

"I'm _fine_," Snizzy growls through his teeth, interrupting me.

"No no no, totally dude, you're totally fine, but uh… you seem… a little tense? Y'know?" I say slowly, trying to be as delicate as I can. Snizzy's seeming extra vicious.

Snizzy glares down at me, stops, and crosses his arms.

"Do you have something you'd like to _say_ to me, _Chick?_" Snizzy says.

If looks could kill, I'd be dead, 'cause Snizzy's glare cuts right through me. It's super intense, and suddenly I feel doomed and also unable to escape.

"Hey hey hey, now, c'mon Snizzy. I'm not doing anything to you, I'm not trashing you, none of that. I'm just sayin-"

"_What?_" Snizzy growls out, his brows and frown contorting in a really ugly way.

"… maybe I should go over there alone? Y'know? 'Cause you're really cool - literally! - but I think you should… take a break, right? Like, you can stand here and _chill_, and I'll go in to get us the stuff!" I say, holding my feathers behind my back as I smile sheepishly.

There's a real big, real heavy pause.

I can feel my face straining as I try to keep my super duper authentic smile on. I feel this guy's eyes boring way deep into my soul, and it makes me just wish this moment would end already.

Eventually, Snizzy sighs aggressively - somehow - and uncrosses his arms. He still looks mad, but he also doesn't look like he's gonna whup my hiney, so I'll take it!

"Fine," he says, looking away from me while holding out a piece of paper.

I say, "Huh?" as I take the paper into one of my handfeathers.

"This is our mission. Go inside, buy any relevant supplies, and then get back out here. I need to go… get something to drink," he says, before just turning and walking away.

I watch him walk down the road, passing by two Turtwigs as he goes off to do whatever it is angry Sneasels do.

Huh.

Welp. At least we're not gonna get banned from Ivey & Ivan's.

I look down at the paper that Snizzy gave me.

Let's see… okay, D-rank… Thunderwave Cave, not too bad… uh, wait. Who is this for?

I skim the mission, looking for… ah, client(s)! Right there, it says that this is a mission from… Magnemite! Alright, cool, now I…

Wait. Magnemite?

I look at the paper again, but this time I try to read the mission description. It says, _"BZZZT GREETINGS. WE ARE TWO MAGNEMITES, WITH TWO MAGNEMITE FRIENDS. THEY WERE *COUGH COUGH COUGH*ING IN THE CAVES. THEY HAVE BECOME STUCK TOGETHER DUE TO THE…"_ blah blah blah, _"…THEY ARE ONE MITE SHORT OF A TON! PLEASE HELP!"_

I sigh and shake my head. You'd think that after the _second_ time this happened, they'd learn not to go all messing around in that dumb cave.

I stuff the mission into the rescue bag, and look up at the stall across the street.

Heal seeds?

Heal seeds.

I walk through the middle of the street, dodge some Weedles, and end up in front of the stall.

Ivey & Ivan's TMs & Item's is the biggest stall in Brownsville. They're pretty much the only stall for _just_ dungeon stuff - and there are a ton of things that count as dungeon stuff.

There are orbs, n' berries, n' scarves, TMs, regional maps - the whole shebang - all set up on shelves behind the counter.

It's a pretty nice stall, honestly. It's got this cool aquamarine n' yellow thing going on, and the wood isn't all splintery, y'know? I wouldn't say anything's missing… except, well… there's no clerk!

Lucky for me, that's where the coolest part of this whole operation comes in!

There's this big ol' bell, all squat and thick, that I can ring. If I whap it hard enough with my feathers, one of those two Snivy are gonna show up eventually.

With a big dumb smile, I raise my feathers dramatically. Pause for effect, and I deliver a mighty _'Whap!'_ to the bell.

Everything goes quiet, and I feel my soul shake when I hear that sound…

_Ding!_

Oh Arceus, it's so dumb, I love it.

Standing in front of the stall, the shadow from the tarp giving me some shade, I hear some rustling to my left.

I turn my head and see nothing, so I look back to the stall - only to find an eager Snivy giving me a big ol' grin.

"Hallo!" she says, nodding to me as she does so.

I nod back and say, "Hey Ivey, howzit goin'?"

Ivey's grin recedes to a small, pleasant smile, and she replies, "It is going well when customers are afoot!"

I smile in return, and say, "Customer, actually! Snizzy ain't here today."

She looks curiously at me, and then looks down the road both ways. Without missing a beat, she asks, "Oh? Where is your Icey friend? They are always such a _cool_ dood."

"Oh, y'know, they went to go hash some stuff out. Important rescue stuff, probably," I say, letting the lame pun roll off my back.

"Ah, okay. 'Important rescue stuff,' I see… " She says, before sighing.

She rolls her eyes, and shakes her head with a smirk. "Such a shame… he always had the biggest…"

There's a big long pause, and she licks her lips with her thin little snake tongue.

Uhhh…

"… wallet."

I feel dumb as Ivey starts laughing at my face, to my face - and boy am I glad I got feathers, 'cause otherwise I mighta blushed.

"Heh, uh… yeah. He get's that big rescue money," I say with a little chuckle at my own expense.

Ivey clasps her hands together, plants her elbow on the counter, and leans forward. While cushioning her head on the back of her little hands, she says, "Right, rescue money... well, what were you looking to buy, dood?"

I shake the embarrassment out of my face, and respond very quickly with, "Heal seeds! Or cheri berries - whichever, I guess."

With that, a vine slowly slips its way out from behind that golden Snivy shoulder crest… thing… and reaches over to the shelves behind her. While her vine goes around the different items on her shelves, her left brow raises a little.

"Mmm, trying to avoid paralysis I see," she says, with a knowing smirk.

I smirk back and reply with, "Yeah. We gotta go to Thunderwave Cave. Those Magnemites, y'know, they-"

"- got stuck together again?" she finishes for me.

I just nod and say, "Yup."

Ivey raises a brow and a smirk, before saying, "Hmm. Two Magnemites in a secluded location, all alone, stuck together for the second time-"

"Third time," I say quickly and without thinking.

"- for the third time," she finishes. "Don't you ever wonder what they are trying to do?"

I scuff my talon against the ground while I state, "Are you trying to imply some sorta thing here?"

"You've never thought about how this keeps happening?" Ivey says with a tilt of her head and the drop of her smirk into this kinda neutral expression.

My mouth goes into a straight line. I've wondered, yeah, but I dunno about where she's taking this.

Suddenly, Ivey chuckles to herself.

"Of course - how silly of me! You? Thinking?" she says playfully.

She shakes her head, and brings her vine back to her with a little sack. She drops the bag on the counter between us.

"Here you are. Four heal seeds, four cheri berries, and I think… yes, yes, I believe there's a reviver seed in there," Ivey says cooly.

I nod my head and give a big ol' smile. "Awesome. How much is all this, dude?"

I lean down and lay the rescue bag on the ground. Then, I start digging around in there for our money. I know we should have, what, 1000 poké in there?

Ivey smiles back and says, "710 poké, dood."

Oof, that's a big chunk o' change right there. We got some to spare, but… well, I guess let's hope this either pays good or we don't have to fight too many 'mon.

Feeling around, I try to figure out which coins are which based on the size. I know the biggest ones are the hundos, but I swear 'mon I can *never* remember whether the ridged ones are the ones or the tens!

I take a big ol' talonful of coins and toss it up onto the counter. Good thing about being a Torchic - we grow some strong legs!

"Alrighty, here ya go!" I say as they land between me and Ivey.

She sorts them out with her vine, eventually ending up with five golden hundos - all the hundos we had - and a bunch of tens. When she's done, she slides over my change.

"Thank you very much, dood! Come back again, please!" Ivey says with that big giant grin of hers that she showed up with.

I close my eyes and smile, before replying with, "Thanks 'mon! I'm sure Team Aurora will be back here before you know it!"

I hear no response, and when I open my eyes, she's gone.

Huh.

'Mon, how do they do that?

…

Ah, whatever. It probably isn't important.

I take the little sack of items, stick it into the rescue bag, and walk back to me and Snizzy's spot across the street. He said to wait here, right?

…I sure hope he did.

Either way, now I gotta play the Waiting Game.

Let's see… I spy with my fiery eye something… green…

* * *

I stand at the edge of the training grounds, just past the Oran bush which marks the boundary between the forest path and the grounds proper.

My mouth is closed, lips making up a tight straight line. I taste the inside of my own mouth, hyper aware of myself and my surroundings as I stare.

In the center of the training grounds is a teal Pokémon.

They are holding a cobalt blue scarf - _my_ cobalt blue scarf - in one leafy hand, with a large sack at their back being held in the other.

The sack is a classic burlap, filled to near bursting with a large amount of items inside.

The other 'mon looks at me with wide golden eyes as we continue to stare at eachother. My pointy Snivy nose pointing in their direction, and their pointy Snivy nose pointing in my direction.

At this point, I must confess that if I had sweat glands, I would most definitely be sweating right now.

I open my mouth to speak, so as to break the uncomfortable silence, but…

I close my mouth again.

What do I even say in this situation? Are they a theif? And, if so, am I? After all, I must imagine that they are about to take my scarf in much the same way I took that TM, so… ?

I blink.

I suppose… well, I am not certain. This confrontation cannot continue forever, though, so I have to say _something_.

Internally, I sigh. Externally, I am as rigid as a steel beam.

Here goes…

"…"

Come on. I know you can do it, vocal chords. Just… put the tongue on the flat of your mouth, and prepare the lips to move back. That should be an 'H' sound, which could lead into a 'Hello?', or perhaps a 'Who are you?'

Good. Adequate. Hopefully.

Okay. Lungs. Now… *push… !*

"…h-"

"Ehhh, are you… okey?" I hear from the Snivy across from me, in a slightly deeper voice. There's a subtle tang of… well, I'm not certain the exact parameters of his dialect, but it certainly feels different from Cole's manner of speech.

For a moment, I'm stunned, but I quickly shake it off. The hard part - breaking the silence - has been taken care of for me. Now I just have to be… social.

"I uh, I'm. Fine. I'm fine," I say, with all the grace of a falling log.

I quickly glance at the face of the 'mon across from me. Their lips and face are twisted in such a way that I can only really interpret amusement from their expression. I feel as though there are things I am missing, however.

"Heh, okey dood. Are you just gonna… stand there?" he asks, tilting his head to the right and rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

I respond extremely quickly with, "That's my scarf. I- g- … can you give it back to me? Please."

The other Snivy looks confused for a moment, before they suddenly let out an, "Oh!".

He holds up my cobalt blue scarf in his left hand. He gives it a look - as do I - before he turns to me once again. "Mmm… there's a difference between scavengery and thievery, so…"

He holds the scarf out in my direction.

"… take it, if it's yours," he says, whilst nodding his head to the scarf.

I take a tentative step forward, my foot shifting the worn dirt beneath it. Then, when I find that no threatening demeanor presents itself, I allow my body to relax a tiny bit.

I walk over to the other Snivy, and wordlessly grasp the scarf in my own hand. Immediately, I feel that wonderfully calming texture, and I feel much better.

To say that the velvety, soothing texture is a relief in my hands is an understatement; within seconds, I've wrapped it around my neck once again.

I tug it forward a little bit. A small part of me isn't comfortable with having something around my neck, but a larger part isn't comfortable knowingly parting with this wonderful piece of cloth.

I can't help but admire it. How has it stayed so… clean? It's practically spotless, and I- !

I hear someone clear their throat, and I look up to see the other Snivy looking at me curiously.

"What do they call you?" he asks as he examines me. His left brow is raised, and his mouth is making up the tiniest frown.

My gaze drops to the ground between us as I begin to feel uncomfortable, before the question finally resonates with me.

I lick my lips, and answer simply with, "… Arthur."

The other Snivy nods his head sagely, with closed eyes and a small hum. After a moment, his eyes open, and he replies with, "Yes, that is quite a strange name."

I frown, but he quickly continues.

"They call me Iven, and I get the items," Iven says, with what I can only describe as semi-rehearsed enthusiasm.

Then, he takes a deep breathe. I raise a brow of my own. Wha-

"All the items! Every item and _moar_ at Ivey & Iven's TMs and Items! We have everything a dungeoneer may need! We have berries, pouches, berry pouches, orbs, TMs, _HMs_, seeds, gummis, food, maps, bags, scarves, bands, and of course our famous lightwood laminate all yours for the low low price of-" he starts spontaneously coughing, before continuing "- so come today and feel okey at Ivey & Iven's TMs and Items! Discounts! Deals! Profit! Innovation! That excites! And so much moar!"

Iven's hands are on his knees as he catches his breathe. To be perfectly honest, I feel winded as well having heard that deluge of advertisement-based sound vomit.

I open my mouth, now fully certain as to what I intend to say.

"Um… are… you okay, uh, Iven?" I ask the oddly coloured Snivy.

Iven shakes his head, casually dismissing the question with a wave of his hand. "Apologies! I, ehhh, I have to do that. Part of the job, and… all the rest of that stuff."

"Between you and me, sneki, that advertisement does *not* make me feel okey," he finishes with a little chuckle.

My ears pick up an unfamiliar word, and before I can even think about stopping myself, the question comes tumbling out of my mouth and down a flight of particularly unkempt stairs.

"… Sneki?" I ask dumbly.

Iven simply shakes his head and replies, "Ah, you must not be from Agua. Sneki is ehhh, a term of endearment between serpents."

He gestures between the two of us, before continuing, "It's from back east. It's your heritage, sneki! You're a Snivy - you have to keep yourself connected to your _roots_, no?"

Right. My… my roots. I have… roots. I must.

Wait.

I smirk, and after a moment, I fail to hold in a giggle.

"There we go! A little smile at the little joke. That wasn't so hard… ?" he says with a big smile, dragging out the end of his sentence expectantly.

"Arthur," I supply.

"Yes yes, Arthur, right. Such an odd name," he says.

Suddenly, he turns to the bag that he had left discarded in the center of the clearing. It appears that we had wandered away in our conversing.

"And such an odd encounter. Are you a traveler, sneki? I think I would remember seeing another Snivy around here," he says as he walks over to his massive sack.

As he begins tying off the end that I presume he was dragging it around from, I answer as close to the truth as I am able.

"I, uh… yes. I suppose. C- You could say that, yes."

While I finish answering, I awkwardly shift my back foot as my left hand surreptitiously kneads the end of my scarf.

I hear the click of a tongue from Iven, and he says, "Mmm, okey. What are you doing out here?"

Suddenly I've found myself with a much easier truth to tell, and so I say, "Well, I uh, I was reading this TM. Secret Power, h- I think that's… what it was calle- um, anyways, I read it. A few times. It said I needed inner peace, or… something. I don't know."

…

"Well, I do know, so… nevermin- Um! So uh I was sweeping and felt that peace, I think. So I sat, and fl- I followed the instructions, and I think it started tw- to work and so I… well, I got too excited and messed it up, I think. Um. There was all these, uh colo- well. Nevermind, you… probably know what… doing a move is… lik- Um! So I realized I needed something to keep me calm and this scarf does and, well, I didn't uh, have it. With me, and so I remembered it was over here and came to… well, you were here for that part, so -"

"Alright alright! Uncle!" Iven says with a chuckle, putting his hands up.

I'm suddenly made aware of my burning cheeks, and the tight ball of cloth in my fist. I hadn't noticed either of these until Iven broke me from my speech-induced stupor, and I silently vow to myself never to speak at length again.

I hear a low whistle, and look over at Iven again. He's looking at me with surprise, and, well… I suppose I don't blame him.

"So you came _how_ far, just for that scarf?" he asks me.

It takes a moment for my brain to fully process the question. When it does, I quickly respond, "Oh, um. Not very, not very far because I live, uh… w- I live with this Sneasel back… well, ov- "

Iven blinks, before pointing to the Oran bush and interrupting me with, "You live with Snizzy?"

I simply nod.

He gives me a small frown. "Huh," he mutters. "Another one… ?"

Iven quickly shakes his head, before hefting the end of the bag over his shoulder. I can hear each item shift against eachother, and I am suddenly glad that I did not get into an altercation with this level of raw physical power as my opponent.

"Well, goodbye! It is nearly mid-day, and Ivey is waiting, so I must go, sneki!" he says as he begins walking off.

As I watch his back slowly recede into the treeline, he turns back to me. I perk up a tiny bit as he calls over his shoulder, "Oh, and if you are ever wanting to say 'Hallo!', come into town, okey? I'm sure Ivey would wanna get to know the new sneki dood too! Until then!"

And with that, he leaves.

…

I chuckle to myself, before I turn back to the Oran bush and _leaf_ as well.


	11. Chapter 10 - Keep On Keeping On

Chapter 10 - Keep On Keeping On

* * *

I find myself pacing in circles, walking around and around at a slow rhythm.

My feet gently step floorboard to floorboard, each individual moment of contact resonating with a soft tap as I circle around the table in the center of the room. I am careful to not step on any cracks between boards as I allow the rhythm to ground my thoughts.

Much like myself, my mind is pacing around in my skull.

In my mind's eye, I still picture the Pokemon whom I've just met. The reflection of my own green scales, cast back in the teal scales of Iven dances around in my skull, and I wonder.

For starters, I have confirmed what I already know - that I am socially inept to the nth degree. If I could compare my mouth to something, I would liken it to a broken faucet - the words either won't come out, or alternatively, come flooding out in an utter wash of verbal overflow. Unfortunately, neither mode is very useful or effective.

On the other hand, however, I can _also_ confirm that, much to my surprise, this did _not_ pose an immediate physical issue to myself. In spite of my self emasculation, the other Snivy was friendly and understanding.

…

I continue my pace, thoughts bouncing around in my head.

I don't know enough about myself. I have a mass conglomerate of contextless knowledge - some of which makes no sense to know within the context of my observed surroundings.

This incongruity, I must admit, nags at me.

And as to how I can go about reconciling these things in my mind, such as knowledge of vague historical and cultural references, which simply have no place here?

I wouldn't even know where to begin.

How would I find Rome from here, and how has no scientist found the secret Pokemon continent?

And, for that matter, _how in the world would I know what those things are?_ How do I even know they aren't some fantastical delusion that I've not yet realized?

I abruptly stop my pace.

I feel the groove of the floor boards beneath me as I stand on a crack and face towards the red banner at the back of this abode.

Am I really a Snivy? Like Iven?

I trace the golden lines with my eyes as they intersect and roll along. Each line of the pattern stands bold against the crimson red. The intricacy is satisfying, yet difficult to process.

…

I move closer, stepping on each crack in the floor boards as I do. The pattern becomes easier to parse as I separate its components. Gold lines become collections of golden fabric against a fuzzy background.

Looking at all the threads connect, I reach out and brush my hand against the banner. The decoration is satisfying to the touch, with a texture similar to that of cotton. The layering on the pattern leaves an impression on me as my hands explore.

…

The only way to find out is to observe. I've been rather timid - not to mention a bit of a social dunce. This clearly doesn't come naturally to me.

If I want to make these threads connect, I'm going to need to break this down. I've been thrust into the deep end of the pool - I need to start on the shallow end.

I step away from the banner. The central emblem - an oval surrounded by two wings - finally comes into focus after fully grasping the pattern.

The key here is not merely to observe, but to study.

I turn from the banner, and towards the stone table in the center of this room. I take a seat at the nearest cushion, and place my elbows on the cool tabletop, eventually resting my head on the back of my interlocked hands.

Hm… well, the first thing that I'm going to have to do is have Cole or Snizzy escort me into town.

The scope of the incongruity is something I will need to address at a later point. For now, I must make the issue a little more granular.

Thus, I think that it would probably be a better decision to fill in the gaps in my knowledge first - because there are gaps. Significant ones. Dangerous ones, perhaps.

The only thing to do about it is to learn, and the first thing I'm going to need to learn is how to communicate more effectively. Once I and whoever else can communicate without issue, the rest of the gaps will be much easier to fill in.

In order to better develop and refine my communication, I'm inevitably going to have to be around Pokemon in order to communicate. I need to study how Cole or Snizzy interact with Pokemon, and then practice those skills for myself. Once I understand the patterns behind Pokemon social norms, the whole thing should come into focus.

I feel the streaked texture of the stone table against my elbows as the inkling of an idea of what to do comes together.

Perhaps if I can plan things out more specifically, or measure my language more carefully… ? Hm…

…

Well, with no one around, "I guess t-there's… no one around to stop me practicing."

I close my mouth in a tight line. I don't like this higher register my voice sits in. I grab my scarf, and pull it up to cover my mouth. I then have the scarf pinned in place by the back of my hands.

The vow to not speak too much still stands. But that does mean I'll need to be more efficient with my words. Pack more meaning into fewer words.

As I look outside, staring out a window, I take a deep breath. The sun and shine outside occupies my eyes, and I breath back out.

"Well…" I murmur to myself.

"At least I know I can… rely on more capable people than myself," I say, thinking back to Cole's confidence, and Snizzy's discipline.

They seem like they can really handle themselves in this strange world I've found myself in. With such bastions of competence like them, I believe I've found myself some suitable… hosts? No, that sounds uncomfortably parasitic…

… Perhaps caretakers?

…

Hm…

I remember suddenly my TM case. Whilst the TM inside is useful, I do know that there are a number of miscellaneous objects within the case as well - and perhaps one of them will prove to be useful in much the same way as the TM itself.

The case is in the table - I hadn't bothered to put the TM away.

Orienting the the case towards me, I pull it closer and pop it open once again. Inside, I find a number of items, some of which I do find familiar. Others, however, I am very much uncertain about. Those I will set aside for the time being.

Among the familiar items, I find a long piece of charcoal, some rough paper-like material, and a number of round physical chips of differing colours. A part of me is happy that I now have something to write in - though at the same time, some deep part of me feels rather dorkish at the moment.

Well, regardless of how I feel, I now have something of a plan. Not a very specific - or very complex - plan, granted, but a plan nonetheless. Now, I wait.

Only time will tell if I really have figured out what I need to do.

* * *

Alright, I got lucky!

After standing around for like ten minutes, Snizzy came back - and with a new drink, too!

We left town like fifteen minutes ago. It's been a pretty quiet walk, honestly - but I guess I shouldn't get all complainy. Snizzy isn't all mad now.

Plus, the forest is nice I guess. Though, something's been nagging at me as we've been walking…

"You are _one hundred percent certain_ that you've read _the entirety_ of our mission, Cole?" Snizzy asks me as we head west towards Thunderwave Cave.

I roll my eyes - good thing 'mon can't tell when all us dot-eyed folks do it!

"Yeah yeah, dude, don't worry. I got us covered - we're good!" I say cheerfully, talons stepping over some pebbles on the dirt path.

I skimmed it. That's like... close enough, probably.

I look at Snizzy while he sips on this 'water skin' of his. I don't know what he's got in there, but hey, if it keeps him from going kablooey then I'm cool with it.

"Look, all we gotta do is get in there, bust out with that rescue stuff we do, and skedaddle on home. We just gotta rescue some Magnemites for some Magnemites - we'll be outta there lickety split!" I exclaim, eyes closed and beak smiling.

I hear this authoritative "Hmph," from my right, and I open my eyes again to look at his unimpressed face.

Not kablooey, but still ka-grouchy. Gotcha.

"Y'know, if you're so hung up on it, you can just like - y'know - read the mission yourself. I'm just sayin'," I tell Snizzy with a shrug.

At that, I hear Snizzy chuckle a little bit, and I look over at him. He's got like this knowing smirk on his face, and he raises one of his brows just a smudge.

After a quick moment, he just says, "You don't get it."

Don't get it? What am I not getting?

"What? You think this is going to be some crazy, like, ultra mission?" I ask him, half joking, but secretly half serious 'cause I don't wanna get bodied on a C rank mission.

Snizzy shakes his head. I see him glance around at our surroundings, eyes hopping around real quick from bushes to trees, and then settling back on the road ahead.

"You are being careless," he says frankly.

He stops and crosses his arms in the middle of the road, and I stop with him.

"To put your guard so low before a mission is ill advised, Cole," Snizzy says, with his signature frown.

He uncrosses his arms, before looking directly at me. His voice goes all low, and he slowly unsheathes his claws while he says, "You never know when something unexpected might happen."

I see fire in his eyes for a sec, and I shiver.

The way he growled out the end, how he had this look in his eyes - y'know, I'm not gonna lie. He had me shook for a second there.

I shake off the shookness, though - I'm a dungeoneer! - and I reply, "Yeah, well, I know I'll be ready."

I mean, what's really gonna happen? I've been on this team for like a month - pretty sure I know my way around a mission!

Snizzy just let's out a little, "Heh," before continuing with, "Is that so?"

I ignore Snizzy's whole questioning thing. I know we got this. Don't be a Dwebble Downer, Snizz!

I look back to the road ahead. We got, what, twenty minutes til the caves?

I turn my head to glance at Snizzy "I mean, unless something super crazy happens, I think we're gonna be fine, 'mon."

I realize right about then that Snizzy is nowhere to be found.

I glance this way, that way, and even do a full 360. It doesn't seem like he's anywhere here, though.

Hm… If I were a _Snizzy_, where would I-

Everything happens so dang fast. First, I hear some rustling above me, and I look up. Then, leaves, fur, claws, dirt - in that order.

I get decked _directly_ in the shnozz, and before I know it I feel someone grab me and throw me onto my front. I eat a mouthful of soil - it's salty and gross - and my beak hurts!

I feel a pressure on the back of my head, and I realize that it's a foot. Someone's standing on the back of my head.

Also I think I'm bleeding. I feel a cut stinging away right above my brow.

"Why weren't you ready?" I hear Snizzy say smugly from above.

Because you just Ninjask'd my _face!_

"Bfmfm fm fm Nfnfd m _f!_" I say, my beak full of dirt 'cause _Snizzy_'s standing on my head.

"Mm," Snizzy hums, before stepping off of the back of my head. I instantly shoot up and spit the salty dirt out. It takes me a second, but I get myself together as quickly as I can.

I spin around and look intensely at Snizzy. What the heck!?

"What did we learn, chick?" Snizzy asks with a raised brow and crossed arms.

Oh come on, 'mon, ya don't gotta be a _thing_ about it.

"Watch my back? Or my above, I guess?" I say, confused and definitely bleeding from my face.

Snizzy just shakes his head. He turns back to the road ahead and continues walking. I follow after him, and soon he starts talking again.

"The lesson is that you're never ready," he says cooly as we go along our way. "Especially when the attack comes from within."

I feel the air around us get very slightly colder. Snizzy takes a big gulp from his drink, and I feel the temperature go back to normal.

Uh huh.

"Cool cool, uh, hey dude? Can I get an OB over here?" I ask, flapping my wings for emphasis.

I see Snizzy glance at me out of the corner of his eye, and see my bleeding face. He smirks, before reaching a hand into the rescue bag at my side and pulling out an oran berry for me. He holds it up to my face.

"Eat the berry, little chick," Snizzy draws out teasingly, while shaking the berry around.

"Dude, just give it to me," I reply.

"Aww, does widdle chick need some help," he says, in a mockingly sweet tone.

"C'mon, mon, you know I just can't reach all the way in there without stopping. You don't know how hard it sucks to have feathers for arms, dude!" I exclaim.

"Here comes the Aerodact- "

"Snizz I like ya, but _you_ aren't gonna be ready for how hard I'm gonna peck your hand off if you don't just give me the damn berry, okay?" I say. This is turning into nonsense or whatever.

Snizzy just laughs and says, "Heh, fine. Take it, heal yourself, and we shall continue. We don't have much farther to go."

With that he tosses the berry at me, and I catch it with a good hop and my feathers.

I squeeze the juice out along my brow, and then shove the rest of the berry in my mouth. That really weird oran flavor fills out in there, and I swallow the whole thing down.

With a little tingling the cut on my brow closes, and I pick up the rescue bag again. Then, we keep going.

Y'know, I sometimes wonder how I ended up following this guy around everywhere - and then he'll do something crazy like that whole vanishing act back there. Like - ow! - and _'damnit Snizzy!'_, but let's put our salt aside here for a moment...

… That was kinda sick.

But then after he'll be a huge donger and I'm back to square one, 'mon! It's a really lame little cycle.

After that, the walk is pretty basic. There's a nice little breaze goin' on, the sun's sitting high at about noon, and we're making some decent progress.

Eventually, after passing our fifty-bajillionth tree, I see a pair of shiny metal bois floating near a cave way way off. I hear Snizzy grunt, and I guess he sees them too, since he picks up the pace and I have to hurry to keep up.

When we get to where we're going, we end up at the edge of the forest. There's the Iron Mountains behind the entrance to Thunderwave Cave - both of 'em this sorta rusty orange, and both of 'em being in this clearing.

In the middle of this cool little area are two big ol' balls o' steel, Magnemite and Magnemite. When we get close, the light from the sun reflects off them and makes me blink for a second.

"Magnemite and Magnemite?" Snizzy asks cooly as we enter the clearing around Thunderwave Cave.

The two Magnemites in front of the cave look at Snizzy, and then me. They look between each other, and then look back at us again.

"WE ARE MAGNEMITE AND MAGNEMITE," Magnemite starts, "ARE YOU TWO RESPONDING TO OUR INQUIRY AS TO THE ACQUISITION OF RESCUE SERVICES FOR OUR TWO MAGNEMITE FRIENDS, WHO ARE KNOWN AS MAGNEMITE AND MAGNEMITE?"

I wince as their super loud, super buzzy voices hit my ear drums. Jeeez! It's like two rusty metal things rubbing together!

Sorry hearing, ya gotta take one for the team today!

While I emotionally prepare my ears for some serious thrashing, Snizzy looks at the Magnemite to the left and says, "Yes. We are Team Aurora. We've accepted your mission, Magnemite and Magnemite, and we are here to rescue your two acquaintances."

The two Magnemites respond at the same time, "THANK YOU VERY MUCH. YOUR PAYMENT WILL BE HANDSOME. BE CAREFUL - HELP OUR MAGNEMITE FRIENDS!"

Gah! Y'know, it wouldn't be so bad if they weren't so monotone. Like, Arceus, 'mon.

Snizzy just nods. Then, he steps forward and gestures for me to follow. I do, and we walk towards the cave's entrance.

When I look at it, I get the feeling like I'm looking at something odd. And I know that the shadows are all wrong 'cause the lighting, and dadada boring boring theory stuff - look, all I'm saying is that we're looking at some legit mystery dungeoning today.

Snizzy walks until I see him enter the cave, and kaleidoscope into the mouth of the thing more as he goes along. I follow close behind him, and together…

… We enter Thunderwave Cave.


End file.
